i 


^^'i     .  V  .  /f  .  /^^TJ. 


^U 


%  *  •  ."         / 


MEMOIR 


OF 


NATHANIEL     BOWDITCH 


PREPARED    EOR    THE    YOUNG-. 


"Tlae  House  in  wliicli  lie  lired."  — P.  3. 


PRINTED   FOR   THE   WARREN    STREET   CHAPEU 

km 

BOSTON: 

JAMES    MUNROE    AND    COMPANY, 


1841. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress  in  the  year  1840,  by 

John    L.     Emmons, 
in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  Massachusetts. 


PRESS  OF  I.  R.  SUITS. 
2  School  Street. 


Influenced  by  feelings  I  could  scarcely  comprehend, 
while,  at  the  same  time  they  were  most  sweet  to  me,  I  was 
induced  to  address  the  pupils  of  the  Warren  Street 
Chapel,  on  the  Sunday  afternoon  after  my  father  died. 
The  subjects  were  his  life  and  serene  departure  from  this 
world.  I  am  aware,  that  some  of  my  nearest  friends  thought 
it  strange  that  my  heart,  on  the  occasion  of  his  death, 
was  so  tinged  with  joyousness.  To  them  I  could  merely 
say,  that  an  event  so  calm  suggested  to  me  nought  of  sad- 
ness. I  wished  my  young  companions  should  feel  as  I  did, 
and  that  in  their  minds,  a  quiet  death  following  a  good  life 
should  be  clothed  with  beauty,  and  that  they  might  feel 
assured,  moreover,  that  in  accordance  with  the  Scotch 
proverb,  "  A  gude  life  makes  a  gude  end."  A  gentle- 
man who  was  present  during  the  address,  and  w^ho  is 
deeply  interested  in  the  education  of  the  young,  request- 
ed me  to  prepare  for  his  Journal  a  sketch  similar  to  that 
I  had  spoken.  In  accordance  with  that  desire,  a  Memoir 
was  prepared,  and  after  its  pubUcation  the  Warren 
Street  Chapel  Association  requested  that  it  should 
be  put,  with  some  revision,  into  this  form.  And  now,  as 
it  was  originally  spoken  for  them, 

I      DEDICATE 


TO  THE  GIRLS  AND  BOIS  OF  WARREN  STREET  CHAPEL. 


PREFACE 


Four  years  since  the  Teachers  of  the  War- 
ren Street  Chafel  published  a  volume  about 
the  size  of  this,  containing  a  Memoir  of  that 
excellent  youth,  James  Jackson,  Jr.  The 
public  has  fully  shown  that  it  regarded  the 
undertaking  with  pleasure. 

Since  that  time  the  Teachers  have  given, 
through  Retzsch's  vivid  Outlines,  a  specimen  of 
the  very  poetry  of  engraving,  in  the  '^  Game 
OF  Life,"  or  the  struggles  of  a  pure  soul  against 
the  Principle  of  Evil,  in  this  world. 

In  accordance  with  their  implied  promise, 
when  publishing  Jackson's  Memoir,  they  now 


VI  PREFACE. 

present  the  life  of  a  just  man.  He  commenced 
his  career  with  energy  and  truth,  and  passing 
tlirough  it  with  constant  hopefulness,  closed  it 
with  a  calm  and  happy  death.  They  trust  that 
this  last  may  be  a  fit  comipanion  for  the  other 
volume.  In  the  first  they  strewed  flowers  up- 
on the  grave  of  early  youth  ;  in  this,  they  hope 
to  offer  a  like  tribute  to  white-haired  and  ven- 
erable age.  Both  have  the  same  object,  viz. 
the  improvement  of  the  young. 
Boston,  Dec.  24,  1840. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    I. 

PAGE 

[From  1773  to  1784,  — under  ten  years  of  age.\ 


Birth.  —  Childhood. 


CHAPTER    II. 

[From  1784  to  1795,  — aged  10—21.] 

His  apprenticeship,  his  habits.  —  Studies  Chambers's 
Cyclopedia.  —  Results  of  his  studies ;  gains  the 
respect  of  all.  —  Dr.  Bentley,  Dr.  Prince,  and  Mr. 
Reed,  do  him  kindness ;  by  their  means  allowed 
access  to  "  The  Philosophical  Library."  —  He  makes 


Vlll  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

philosophical  instruments.  —  Calculates  an  Almanac 
at  the  age  of  fourteen.  —  Studies  Algebra  :  delight 
he  experienced  from  this  new  pursuit.  —  Learns 
Latin.  —  Reads  works  by  Sir  Isaac  Newton.  — 
Studies  French 12 


CHAPTER    III. 

[From  1784  to  1796,  — aged  10  —  22.] 

Apprenticeship  continued.  —  Favorite  of  his  compan- 
ions.—  Learns  music:  neglects  his  studies  for  a 
time.  —  Gets  into  bad  society :  his  decision  in  freeing 
himself  from  it.  —  Engages  in  a  survey  of  the  town 
of  Salem.  —  Sails  on  his  first  voyage  to  the  East 
Indies :  extracts  from  his  Journal  during  this  voyage  : 
arrival  at  the  Isle  of  Bourbon :  return  home.       .     .     24 


CHAPTER    IV. 

[From  1796  to  1797,  —  aged  23  —  24.] 

Second  Voyage.  —  Visits  Lisbon.  —  Island  of  Madeira : 
festival  and  games  there.  —  Anecdotes  of  his  skill 


CONTENTS.  IX 

PAGE 

as  an  accountant.  —  Doubles  Cape  of  Good  Hope. — 
Albatrosses.  —  Arrival  at  Manilla.  —  Extracts  from 
Journal.  —  Curious  boat.  —  Earthquake.  —  Voyage 
home 32 


CHAPTER    V. 

[From  1797  to  1800,  — ao-e^f  24  — 27.] 

Marriage,  —  Third  voyage  ;  visits  Spain.  —  Dangers. 
—  Earl  St.  Vincent's  fleet.  —  Arrival  at  Cadiz. — 
Observatory  at  Cadiz.  —  Sails  for  Alicant.  —  Passage 
tln-ough  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar. —  Privateers :  chased 
by  one  :  anecdotes  of  Mr.  B.'s  love  of  study  shown 
then.  —  Hears  news  of  the  death  of  his  wife :  con- 
soles himself  with  mathematical  studies.  —  More 
troubles  with  privateers.  —  Leaves  Alicant.  —  Ad- 
vantages derived  from  his  visit  to  Spain.  —  Fourth 
voyage ;  to  India.  —  Extracts  from  Journal  on 
viewing  a  ship  that  was  engaged  in  the  slave-trade. — 
Arrival  at  Java  :  introduction  to  the  Governor  :  re- 
spect formerly  paid  to  him.  — Anecdote  of  English 
Navy  Officers.  —  Goes  to  Batavia  and  Manilla.  — 
Observations  of  Jupiter  while  becalmed  near  the 
Celebean  Islands.  —  Voyage   home 46 


X  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

CHAPTER    VI. 

[From  1800  to  1S03.— aged  27  —  30.] 

Second  marriage :  character  of  his  wife.  — Mr.  B.  en- 
gages in  commerce,  for  two  years.  —  School  com- 
mittee. —  East-India  Marine  Society  :  a  description 
of  the  annual  meeting  of  this  society.  —  Mr.  B. 
becomes  part  owner  of  ship  Putnam,  and  sails  for 
India.  —  Anecdote,  occurrence  a  few  days  after 
leaving  Salem.  — Studies  during  the  long  voyage.  — 
Begins  to  study  and  make  notes  upon  La  Place's 
*'  Mecanique  Celeste."  —  Arrival  off  Sumatra  : 
difficulties  there.  —  Boarded  by  EngUsh  man-of- 
war.  —  Revisits  Isle  of  France.  — Journal  extracts 
about  modes  of  procuring  pepper :  seasons  for  it,  &c. 
—  Incident  on  approaching  Salem  harbor.  —  De- 
cision of  Mr.  B 62 


CHAPTER     VII. 

Review  of  the  labors,  &c.,  performed  by  Mr.  Bowditch, 
during  these  voyages.  —  Habits  while  at  sea  : 
studies  :  desire  to  teach  others :  kindness  to  sailors, 
and  to  the  sick.  —  Discovers  errors  in  a  book  on 


CONTENTS.  XI 

PAGE 

Navigation.  —  Origin  of  "  American  Practical 
Navigator  :"  success  of  it :  industry  of  Mr.  B.  upon 
it.  —  Investigates  higher  branches  of  science  :  — 
"  Mecanique  Celeste." — Mr.  B.  reads  history. — 
Learns  Spanish,  French,  and  Portuguese  languages. 
—  Anecdotes.  —  Chosen  member  of  American 
Academy.  —  Receives  honors  from  Harvard  College.     78 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

[From  1803  to  1817  —  aged  30  —  44.] 

Mr.  B.  translates  a  Spanish  paper  :  is  chosen  President 
of  a  Fire  and  Marine  Insurance  Office.  —  Habits  of 
life.  ~  Becomes  interested  in  politics.  —  Federalists 
and  Democrats.  —  Great  excitement.  —  Division 
between  him  and  old  friends,  in  consequence  of 
zeal.  —  Feelings  of  Mr.  B.,  when  war  was  de- 
clared. —  Decision  of  character.  —  His  charity. 
—  Earnestness  in  aiding  others  :  ludicrous  instance 
of  the  effects  of  this.  —  Boldness  towards  a  truck- 
man. —  Zeal  for  improving  the  libraries  :  unites  the 
two.  —  Dr.  Prince's  church.  —  Performance  of  du- 
ties of  President  of  Insurance  Office.  —  Answer 
to  an  overbearing  rich  man.  —  Appointed  Professor  t 
of  Mathematics  at  Harvard  College  :  same  at  West 
Point.  —  His  modesty.  —  Hints  about  leaving  Salem,     91 


Xll  CONTENTS. 

PAGS 

CHAPTER    IX. 

[From  1803  to  1823,  —  aged  30  —  50.] 

Papers  published  by  Mr.  B.  in  the  Memoirs  of  the 
Academy  :  account  of  some  of  them.  —  Total  eclipse 
of  the  sun  in  1806  :  effect  of  it.  —  Anecdote  of  Chief 
Justice  Parsons.  —  Meteor  that  fell  over  Weston, 
Ct. :  account  of  its  curious  appearance :  effect  of 
these  papers  upon  his  fame  in  Europe.  —  Chosen 
member  of  most  of  the  learned  societies  of  the 
Old  World.  —  Quits  Salem,  to  become  connected 
with  larger  institutions  in  Boston 105 


CHAPTER    X. 

Sketch  of  the  Life  of  La  Place,  author  of  the  "  Me- 
canique  Celeste." —  Newton's  labors. — Halley's 
comet.  —  The  importance  of  astronomy  to  naviga- 
tion.—  Comets:  Dr.  Bowditch's  Commentary  up- 
on Mecanique  Celeste  :  difficulties  attending  the 
undertaking  :  objects  he  had  in  view :  first  volume 
analysed  :  Newton's  error  pointed  out 120 


CONTENTS.  Xin 

FA  OB 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Commentary  continued  :  second  volume.  —  Discussion 
between  the  English  and  French  Mathematicians : 
Dr.  B.'s  criticisms.  —  Errors  in  La  Place,  in  regard 
to  the  earth,  &c.  —  Third  volume  :  motions  of  the 
moon.  —  Fourth  volume  :  many  errors  discovered 
in  it.  —  Halley's  Comet.  —  Curious  phenomena  of 
capillary  attraction 138 


CHAPTER   [XII. 

Sketch  of  the  life  of  La  Grange,  the  equal  of  La 
Place:  love  Dr.  B.  had  for  this  person's  character: 
comparison  between  him  and  La  Place  :  also 
between  him  and  Dr.  Bowditch.  —  Conclusion  of 
the  Memoir 144 


MEMOIR. 


MEMOIR, 


CHAPTER  I. 

[From  1773  to  1784  —  under  ten  years  of  age*] 
Birth.  —  Childhood. 

Nathaniel  Bowditch,  whose  history  I 
shall  relate  to  you,  was  one  whose  character 
and  actions  presented  many  circumstances 
which,  I  think,  cannot  fail  of  being  interest- 
ing to  you.  He  died,  a  short  time  ago,  here, 
in  Boston;  and,  from  having  been  a  poor  and 
ignorant  boy,  became  a  man  known  all  over 
the  world,  for  his  great  learning,  while  at  the 
same  time  he  was  beloved  for  the  goodness  of 
his  heart  and  the  integrity  of  his  character. 
May  the  perusal  of  his  history  excite  some  of 
you  to  imitate  his  virtues  and  his  energy. 
1 


2 


MEMOIR    OF 


He  was  born  in  Salem,  a  town  about  four- 
teen miles  from  Boston,  the  capital  city  of  our 
State  of  Massachusetts.  His  birthday  was 
March  26th,  1773.  His  father  was  at  first  a 
cooper,  and  afterwards  a  shipmaster.  He  and 
his  wife  were  exceedingly  poor,  and  they  had 
many  children.  Nathaniel  was  the  fourth 
child.  He  had  two  sisters  and  three  brothers. 
When  he  was  about  two  and  a  half  years  old, 
his  parents  removed  to  a  very  small  wooden 
house  in  Danvers,  only  three  miles,  however, 
from  Salem  ;  and  here  the  boy  attended  school 
for  the  first  time,  and  began  to  show  those  gen- 
erous feelings,  and  that  love  of  learning,  which 
he  displayed  so  much  in.  after-life.  The  old 
schooihouse    is    still    standing,    in    which    he 


^^ 


^^^i'^iiin^lf,^ 


studied  the  alphabet,  and  learned  to  spell  and 
read.     It  is  an  old-fashioned  building,  with  a 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCH.  8 

long  slanting  roof,  which,  at  the  back  of  the 
house,  nearly  reaches  the  ground.  Its  single 
chimney,  with  many  curious  and  pretty  corners, 
still  rises  in  the  middle  of  the  roof,  as  it  did 
sixty  years  ago.  Around  the  dwelling  is  a 
grass  plat,  upon  which  he  used,  when  a  child 
like  yourselves,  to  play  heartily  with  his  school- 
mates. It  is  now  planted  wdth  shrubs,  such  as 
the  farmers  most  need.  The  house  in  which 
he  lived  was  nearly  opposite  that  in  which  the 
school  Vv^as  kept.  It  had  but  two  rooms  in  it, 
and  all  its  furniture  was  of  the  simplest  kind. 

I  visited  the  relations  of  the  schoolmistress. 
She  died  many,  many  years  ago  ;  but  her  niece, 
when  I  asked  about  Nathaniel,  told  me  how  her 
aunt  used  to  love  him,  for  his  earnestness  in 
pursuing  his  studies,  and  for  his  gentleness, 
while  under  her  care.  He  was  "  a  nice  boy," 
she  was  wont  to  say.  While  in  Danvers,  his 
father  was  most  of  the  time  at  sea,  he  having 
been  obliged  to  give  up  his  trade  and  become  a 
sailor,  when  the  Revolutionary  War  broke  out."^ 

*  You  wil^.  know  better,  by  and  by,  about  the  Revolu- 
tionary War.  I  will  merely  state  now,  that  this  war  was 
between  America  and  Great  Britain,  in  order  to  free  our-» 
selves  from  the  power  of  England.    The  reason  why  the 


4  MEBIOIR   OF 

He  lived,  during  his  father's  absence,  very  hap- 
pily with  his  mother  and  his  brothers  and  sisters. 
During  the  whole  of  his  after-life,  he  used  to 
delight  to  go  near  the  small  house  in  which  he 
had  dwelt  so  pleasantly.  The  family  was  "  a 
family  of  love."  He  had  a  brother  William,  to 
whom  he  was  peculiarly  attached.  He  was 
more  grave  and  sober  than  Nathaniel ;  for  the 
latter,  with  all  his  devotion  to  study,  was  full  of 
fun,  frolic,  and  good  nature.  But  William  was 
equally,  and  perhaps  more,  gentle.  The  broth- 
ers frequently  studied  together  from  an  old 
family  Bible ;  and  on  Sundays,  when  they 
were  quite  small,  their  grandmother,  who  was 
a  very  excellent  woman,  used  to  place  this  large 
book,  with  its  wooden  covers  and  bright  brazen 
clasps,  upon  the  foot  of  her  bed  ;  and  hour  after 
hour  did  those  two  boys  trace,  with  their  fin- 
British  King  had  any  thing  to  do  with  America  was  this. 
Many  years  ago,  a  number  of  people  came  over  from  Eng- 
land, and  settled  in  this  country ;  and  of  course  the  small 
colony  needed  the  aid  of  the  government  from  which  it 
originated.  After  a  time,  the  people  here  wanted  to  gov- 
ern themselves,  and  they  therefore  went  to  battle  about  it, 
because  England  would  not  grant  them  all  their  wishes. 
This  contest,  which  lasted  for  several  years,  was  termina- 
ted by  the  freedom  of  the  United  States. 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCH.  O- 

gers  upon  the  map,  the  forty  years'  wanderings 
of  the  Israelites,  before  they  came  in  to  the  long- 
looked-for  land  of  Canaan.  I  have  said  that 
Nathaniel  frequently  went  to  look  upon  the 
house  in  which  he  had  lived,  and  so  did  he 
often  call  upon  the  family  in  which  this  old 
Bible  was  kept,  in  order  that  he  might  see  the 
volume  which  he  had  so  loved  to  pore  over, 
when  a  boy.  It  reminded  him  of  the  delightful 
home  of  his  childhood,  where  his  dear  and  wor- 
thy mother  used  to  endeavor  to  make  him  good, 
in  order  that  he  might  become  an  honor  to  her 
and  to  the  people.  His  mother  was  one  who 
was  extremely  kind,  yet  she  was  by  no  means 
afraid  to  correct  her  children,  if  she  found  them 
erring.  Nathaniel  sometimes  suffered,  because, 
like  every  boy,  he  sometimes  did  wrong ;  but 
generally,  the  mother  found  that  he  could  be 
easily  guided  by  her  love.  I  seem  to  see  her 
now,  taking  her  little  son,  and  leading  him  to 
the  window  of  the  cottage  in  Danvers,  to  see 
the  beautiful  new  moon  just  setting  in  the  west ; 
while,  at  the  same  time,  she  kisses  and  blesses 
him,  and  talks  to  him  of  his  absent  father,  and 
they  both  send  up  earnest  wishes  for  his  safe 
and  speedy  return.     She  was  very  careful  to 


6  MEMOIR    OF 

instil  into  all  her  children  the  importance  of 
truth.  ^'  Speak  the  truth  always,  my  boy," 
said  she.  She  likewise  loved  religion,  and  she 
was  very  liberal  in  her  feelings  towards  those 
who  differed  from  her  upon  this  subject.  Nev- 
ertheless, believing  that  the  Episcopal  kind  of 
worship  was  the  most  correct,  she  educated  all 
her  children  in  that  form.  An  anecdote,  which 
Nathaniel,  when  he  became  a  man,  frequently 
related,  will  show  you  how  much  influence  her 
instructions  in  this  particular  had  upon  him. 
Among  the  Episcopahans,  the  prayers  are  read 
and  the  people  repeat,  aloud,  some  answer. 
One  day,  Nathaniel  called  his  brothers  and 
sisters  around  him,  and,  taking  his  mother's 
book  of  prayer,  with  a  sober  face  began  to  read 
aloud  from  it,  while  his  brothers  made  the  an- 
swers. They  had  continued  some  minutes 
amusing  themselves  in  this  way,  when  their 
mother  entered  the  room.  She  was  very  much 
troubled,  at  first,  as  she  supposed  they  were 
ridiculing  the  services  she  held  as  sacred.  '^  My 
sons,"  said  she,  ''I  am  pleased  to  see  you  read 
that  book  ;  but  you  should  never  do  so  in  a 
careless  manner."  Her  feelings  were  relieved, 
by  their  assuring  her  they  meant  no  disrespect. 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCH.  7 

The  family  was  very  poor ;  so  poor,  indeed, 
that  sometimes  they  had  nothing  to  eat  for  sev- 
eral successive  days,  but  common  coarse  bread, 
with  perhaps  a  little  pork.  Wheaten  bread 
was  almost  never  allowed  any  one  of  them. 
Their  clothing,  too,  was  at  times  very  thin. 
Frequently,  during  the  whole  winter,  the  boys 
wore  their  summer  jackets  and  trousers.  At 
times,  his  schoolmates  used  to  laugh  at  our 
young  friend,  because  he  wore  such  a  thin  dress 
when  they  were  thickly  clad  in  winter  garments. 
But  he  never  was  afraid  of  their  merriment,  nor 
made  angry  by  it ;  on  the  contrary,  he  laughed 
heartily  at  them,  for  supposing  him  unable  to 
bear  the  cold.  He  knew  that  no  good  would 
be  gained  by  complaints,  and  that  he  would  dis- 
tress his  mother  if  he  made  any  ;  he  therefore 
bore  contentedly  his  want  of  clothing,  and 
sought  even  to  make  himself  merry  with  those 
who  ridiculed  him. 

At  the  age  of  seven  years,  and  after  return- 
ing to  Salem,  he  went  to  a  school  kept  by  a 
man  named  Watson.  Master  Watson  was  one 
who  had  sufficient  learning  for  those  times ; 
though  the  boys  who  now  go  to  school  in  Bos- 
too  would  thmk  it  very  strange,  if  a  master  did 


8 


MEMOIR   OF 


not  attempt  to  teach  more  than  he  did.  None 
of  the  scholars  had  a  dictionary.  Master  Wat- 
son was  a  good  man,  but  he  suffered  much  from 
headache,  and  therefore  he  was  frequently  liable 
to  violent  fits  of  anger,  and,  when  thus  excited, 
as  it  generally  happens  in  such  cases,  he  was 
guilty  of  injustice.  An  instance  of  this,  young 
Bowditch  met  with,  not  long  after  he  entered 
the  school.  From  early  life,  he  had  loved 
ciphering,  or  arithmetic  ;  and  thinking  that  at 
school,  he  would  be  able  to  learn  something 
more  about  this  than  he  had  previously  gained 
from  his  brothers,  while  at  home,  during  the 
long  winter  evenings,  he  requested  the  master  to 
allow  him  to  study  it.  As  he  seemed  too  young, 
this  request  was  not  granted.  But,  being  deter- 
mined to  study  what  pleased  him  so  much,  he 
obtained  a  letter  from  his  father,  in  which  Mr, 
Bowditch  requested  Mr.  Watson  to  allow  his 
son  to  pursue  his  favorite  study.  The  school- 
master, on  receiving  the  message,  was  very  an- 
gry, and  said  to  his  pupil,  ^'  Very  well.  I'll 
give  you  a  sum  that  will  satisfy  you  ;  "  and  im- 
mediately prepared  a  question  that  he  thought 
Nathaniel  would  be  unable  to  answer,  and 
which  he  could  not  have  answered  had  he  not 


NATHANIEL   BOWDITCH. 


Studied  at  home.  But  the  boy  had  learned 
before,  sufficiently  to  enable  him  to  perform 
the  task ;  and,  having  done  so,  he  ran  gaily  to 
the  desk,  expecting  to  be  praised  for  his  proper 
performance  of  duty.  You  may  imagine  his 
surprise  at  being  saluted  with  these  words ; 
**  You  little  rascal,  who  shewed  you  how  to  do 
this  sum  ?  I  shall  punish  you  for  attempting  to 
deceive  me."  The  poor  lad's  heart  swelled  and 
beat  violently.  He  blushed  and  trembled,  from 
fear  of  punishment  ;  but  still  more  at  the  sus- 
picion which  his  instructer  had  expressed,  that 
he  had  been  guilty  of  teUing  a  lie.  Filled  with 
contending  emotions,  he  stammered  out,  '^  I  did 
it,  sir."  But  his  master  would  not  believe 
him,  and  was  about  to  strike  him,  when  an  elder 
brother  interfered,  and  stated  that  Nathaniel 
knew  very  well  how  to  perform  the  task,  for  he 
himself  had  previously  taught  him  enough  to  en- 
able him  to  do  it.  Our  young  arithmetician 
thus  escaped  the  punishment;  but  he  never 
could  forget  that  he  had  been  accused  of  false- 
hood. His  pious  and  truth-loving  mother  had 
so  firmly  fastened  in  his  mind  the  holiness  of 
truth,  that  he  never  thought"  of  deviating  from 
it  J  and,  during  his  life,  he  considered  that  any 


10  MEMOIR    OF 

one,  who  even  suspected  him  of  falsehood,  had 
done  him  the  greatest  injury.  How  well  it 
would  be,  if  all  of  our  boys  loved  truth  as  he 
did! 

This  was  the  only  serious  difficulty  he  met 
with,  while  at  this  school.  He  was  the  same 
lively  lad  at  every  thing  he  undertook,  that  he 
had  been  previously.  He  was  beloved  by  his 
comrades,  for  his  good  nature,  and  was  always 
engaged  in  useful  employment  or  innocent 
amusements.  When  he  was  about  ten  years 
of  age,  his  father  became  poorer  than  ever ; 
and  moreover,  in  consequence  of  loss  of  regular 
employment  and  of  the  little  property  \\  hich  he 
possessed,  he^ave  himself  up  to  habits  of  intox- 
ication. From  having  beLm  a  brave  man,  he 
became  a  coward  ;  and,  unable  to  look  at  the 
distress  of  his  family,  made  their  pov^^rty  many 
times  more  burdensome,  by  habits  which  wholly 
unfitted  him  for  active  duties.  Under  these 
circumstances,  his  son,  at  the  age  of  ten  years 
and  three  months,  left  school,  and  soon  after- 
wards was  bound  an  apprentice  to  Messrs. 
Ropes  and  Hodges,  who  kept  a  ship-chandler's 
shop. 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCH.  11 

As  this  was  one  of  the  important  times  in  his 
life,  I  think  1  will  finish  this  chapter  with  only- 
two  remarks,  for  the  boys  and  girls  who  may  be 
reading  this.  You  see  a  boy,  who,  before  he 
was  ten  years  old,  showed  great  love  of  truth  ; 
great  perseverance  ;  intense  love  of  study,  par- 
ticularly of  ciphering  ;  and  lastly,  you  perceive 
him  under  the  influence  of  a  good  mother,  who 
devoted  herself  to  exciting  in  him  all  just  and 
holy  sentiments  ;  particularly  does  she  point  out 
to  him  truth  as  one  grand  aim  of  his  existence. 
Now,  I  wish  you  to  remember  these  facts,  and 
see  where  they  eventually  lead  him ;  and  if 
you  remember,  you  may  be  induced  to  imitate 
him,  in  some  respects. 


12 


MEMOIR   OF 


CHAPTER  II. 


\From  1784  to  171,5,  —  between  the  ages  often  and  twenty-one."] 

His  apprenticeship,  his  habits.  —  Studies  Chambers's  Cy- 
clopedia. —  Results  of  his  studies  ;  gains  the  respect  of 
all.  —  Dr.  Bentley,  Dr.  Prince,  and  Mr.  Reed,  do  him 
kindness  ;  by  their  means  allowed  access  to  "  The  Philo- 
sophical Library."  —  He  makes  philosophical  instru- 
ments. —  Calculates  an  Almanac  at  the  age  of  fourteen. 
—  Studies  Algebra  :  delight  he  experienced  from  this 
new  pursuit.  —  Learns  Latin.  —  Reads  works  by  Sir 
Isaac  Newton.  —  Studies  French. 

Doubtless,  it  was  with  a  sorrowing  heart 
that  Nathaniel  left  his  own  dear  home<,  and  his 
kind  mother,  to  take  up  his  abode  among  stran- 
gers ;  for  he  was  to  live  at  the  house  of  his  em- 
ployer, Mr.  Hodges.  eBut,  if  he  did  feel  sad,  he 
was  not  one  to  neglect  a  duty  in  consequence 
of  sorrow.  The  shop  in  which  he  was  employ- 
ed was  situated  very  « ear  the  wharves,  in  the 
lower  part  of  the  town  of  Salem.  We  do  not 
see  many  such  stores  now,  in  Boston  ;  though 
something  similar  is  sometimes  found  in  small 
country  towns.  In  it,  a  great  variety  of  goods 
was  sold,  especially  every  thing  which  would  be 
useful  to  a  sailor.  Pork  and  nails,  hammers 
and  butter,  were  kept  in  adjacent  barrels.    The 


NATHANIEL   BOWDITCH.  13 

walls  were  hung  with  all  the  tools  needed  in 
the  seafaring  life.  There  was  a  long  counter  in 
it,  at  one  end  of  which,  Nathaniel  had  his  little 
desk  ;  when  not  engaged  with  customers,  he  used 
to  read  and  write  there.  He  always  kept  a  slate 
by  his  side  ;  and,  when  not  occupied  by  the 
duties  of  the  shop,  he  was  busied  with  his  favor- 
ite pursuit  of  arithmetic.  In  the  warm  weather 
of  summer,  when  there  was  little  business,  and 
the  heat  was  uncomfortable,  he  was  frequently 
seen  by  the  neighbors  ciphering,  while  his  slate 
rested  upon  the  half- door  of  the  shop  ;  for  in 
those  days  the  shop-doors  were  made  in  two 
parts,  so  that  frequently  the  lower  half  was  shut 
while  the  upper  was  open.  Thus  he  was 
always  actively  employed,  instead  of  being  idle, 
as  is  too  frequently  the  case  with  boys  in  simi- 
lar circumstances.  Even  on  the  great  holy  days 
of  Fourth  of  July  and  General  Training,  he  did 
not  leave  his  studies  for  the  purpose  of  going  to 
see  the  parade,  but  remained  at  the  shop,  labor- 
ing to  improve  himself;  or,  if  the  shop  was 
closed,  he  was  in  his  little  garret-room  at  his 
employer's  house.  Study  and  reading  w^ere  be- 
ginning to  be  his  only  recreation.  Frequently, 
after  the  store  w^as  closed  at  night,  he  remained 


14  MEMOIR    OF 

until  nine  or  ten  o'clock,  instead  of  spending  the 
evening  in  folly  or  guilt.  Many  long  winter 
nights  he  passed  in  a  similar  manner,  at  his 
master's  house,  by  the  kitchen  fire.  While  here, 
he  did  not  become  morose  or  ill-natured,  but 
frequently,  when  the  servant  girl  wished  to  go 
to  see  her  parents,  who  lived  one  or  two  miles 
off,  he  took  her  place  by  the  side  of  the  cradle 
of  his  master's  child,  and  rocked  it  gently  with 
his  foot,  while  busily  occupied  at  his  books. 
This  was  one  of  the  sweetest  incidents  in  this 
great  man's  life.  It  was  the  germ  of  his  benev- 
olence in  after  life.  A  truly  great  man  is  kind- 
hearted  as  well  as  wise.  Nathaniel  began 
thus  early  his  course  of  genuine  humanity  and 
science.  So  must  you  do  if  you  would  imitate 
him. 

As  he  became  older,  he  became  interested  in 
larger  and  m.ore  important  w^orks  ;  and  of  these, 
fortunately,  he  found  an  abundant  supply.  His 
employer  lived  in  the  house  of  Judge  Ropes, 
and  Nathaniel  had  permission  to  use  the  library 
of  this  gentleman  as  much  as  he  wished.  In 
this  collection  he  found  one  set  of  books,  which 
he  ever  afterwards  valued  very  much.  He 
sought  to  purchase  a  copy  of  it;  when  he  was 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCH.  15 

old,  having  the  same  kind  of  feeling  towards  it 
that  lie  bore  towards  his  grandmother's  Bible. 
It  was  Chambers's  Cyclopedia.  As  you  may 
judge  from  the  name  Cyclopedia,  these  books, 
consisting  of  four  very  large  volumes,  contained 
much  upon  a  great  many  subjects.  It  is  hke  a 
dictionary.  He  read  every  piece  in  it ;  and 
copied  into  blank  books,  which  he  obtained  for 
the  purpose,  every  thing  he  thought  particularly 
interesting,  especially  all  about  ciphering.  Pre- 
viously, he  had  studied  navigation,  or  the  methods 
whereby  the  sailors  are  enabled  to  guide  their 
ships  across  the  ocean.  In  this  Cyclopedia  he 
found  much  upon  this  subject ;  also  upon  astron- 
omy, or  the  knowledge  of  the  stars,  and  other 
heavenly  bodies  ;  and  upon  mensuration,  or  the 
art  with  which  we  are  enabled  to  measure  large 
quantities  of  land  or  water. 

But  he  w^as  not  satisfied  with  merely  studying 
what  others  did.  He  made  several  dials  and 
curious  instruments  for  measuring  the  weather, 
&c.  He  likewise,  at  the  age  of  fourteen  years, 
made  an  Almanac,  so  accurately  and  minutely 
finished,  that  it  might  have  been  published. 
Whilst  engaged  upon  this  last,  he  was  more 
than  usually  laborious.     The  first  rays  of  the 


16  MEMOIR   OF 

morning  saw  him  at  labor,  and  he  sat  up,  with 
his  rushhght,  until  late  at  night.  If  any  asked 
where  Nathaniel  was,  the  reply  was,  *'  He  is  en- 
gaged in  making  his  Almanac."  He  was  just 
fourteen  years  of  age,  when  he  finished  it.  It 
is  now  in  existence,  and  in  his  library.  This 
library  consists  of  more  than  two  thousand 
books,  which,  during  his  long  life,  he  had  col- 
lected. Yet,  to  my  mind,  the  little  Almanac  is 
the  most  valuable  book  of  the  whole,  because  it 
was  the  first  evidence  he  gave  of  his  persever- 
ance of  mind. 

August  1,  1787,  that  is,  at  the  age  of  four- 
teen, he  was  introduced  to  a  mode  of  calculating 
which  was  wholly  new  to  him.  His  brother 
came  home  from  his  school,  where  he  had  been 
learnino;  navio;ation,  and  told  him  that  his  master 
had  a  mode  of  ciphering  by  means  of  letters. 
Nathaniel  puzzled  himself  very  much  about  the 
matter,  and  imagined  a  variety  of  methods  of 
''  ciphering  widi  letters."  He  thought  that  per- 
haps A  added  to  B  made  C  ;  and  B  added  to 
C  made  D  ;  and  so  on  ;  but  there  seemed  to 
him  no  use  in  all  this.  At  length  he  begged 
his  brother  to  obtain  for  him  the  book.  The 
schoolmaster  readily  lent  it ;  and  it  is  said  that 


NATHANIEL   BOWDITCH.  17 

the  boy  did  not  sleep  that  night.  He  was  so 
dehghted  with  reading  about  this  method,  or  al- 
gebra, as  it  is  called,  that  he  found  it  impossible 
to  sleep.  He  afterwards  talked  with  an  old 
English  sailor,  who  happened  to  know  some- 
thing about  the  subject,  and  received  some  lit- 
tle instruction  from  him.  This  person  after- 
wards went  to  his  own  country  ;  but,  just  before 
he  left  Salem,  he  patted  Nathaniel  upon  the 
head,  and  said,  "  Nat,  my  boy,  go  on  studying 
as  you  do  now,  and  you  will  be  a  great  man  one 
of  these  days."  You  will  see,  before  finishing 
this  story,  that  the  prophecy  of  the  old  sailor 
was  amply  fulfilled. 

But  all  this  labor,  this  constant  exertion,  must, 
you  will  think,  have  given  him  friends.  Your 
suspicion  is  very  correct.  He  became  known 
as  a  young  man  of  great  promise ;  as  one 
more  capable  than  his  elders  were  of  deciding 
many  questions,  particularly  all  those  in  which 
any  calculations  were  to  be  made.  Conse- 
quently, when  about  seventeen  or  eighteen 
years  old,  he  was  frequently  called  upon, 
by  men  much  older  than  himself,  to  decide  im- 
portant questions.  All  these  he  attended  to  so 
wilbngly,  that  those  who  applied  to  him  became 
2 


18  MEMOIR   OF 

very  much  attached  to  him.  But  he  gained  the 
notice  not  merely  of  common  persons,  less 
learned  than  himself;  but  his  industry,  his  fidel- 
ity to  his  employers,  his  talents,  attracted  the 
notice  of  men  well  known  in  the  community. 
Among  these  were  two  clergymen  of  the  town. 
At  the  church  of  one  of  these  he  attended  for 
divine  worship;  and  Dr.  Bentley  used  never  to 
pass  the  store,  without  stepping  in,  to  talk  with 
his  young  friend.  Nathaniel  likewise  availed 
himself  of  the  learning  of  Dr.  Bentley ;  and 
often  visited  his  room,  in  order  to  converse  with 
him.  Dr.  Prince  was  the  other  clergyman. 
This  gentleman  had  studied  much  the  same  sub- 
jects that  the  apprentice  was  pursuing,  and  he 
was  very  glad  to  see  a  young  man  zealous  in  the 
same  pursuits.  There  was  another  individual, 
who  kept  an  apothecary's  shop ;  and  it  was  he, 
who,  with  the  aid  of  the  two  clergymen,  opened 
to  our  young  student  the  means  of  continuing  his 
favorite  studies,  with  more  success  than  he  had 
ever  anticipated.  Mr.  Reed,  for  that  was  his 
name,  likewise  gave  him  permission  to  use  all  his 
books,  pf  which  he  had  a  great  many.  But  the 
chief  means  of  study,  to  which  I  allude,  was  the 
permission  to  take  books  from  a  library  which  had 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCH.  19 

been  formed  by  a  number  of  gentlemen  of  the 
town.  The  kindness  of  the  proprietors  of  this 
library  was  never  forgotten  by  the  young  ap- 
prentice ;  and  in  his  will,  made  fifty  years  after- 
wards, he  left  a  thousand  dollars,  in  order  to  repay 
the  debt  of  gratitude  which  he  felt  he  had  in- 
curred. But  you  may  want  to  know  something 
about  the  formation  of  this  library,  and  the  books 
of  which  it  was  composed.  Sometime  during  the 
Revolutionary  War,  alluded  to  in  Chapter  I., 
Dr.  Kirwan,  an  Irishman  and  a  learned  man,  put 
the  greater  part  of  his  library  on  board  a  ship,  in 
order  to  have  it  carried  across  the  Irish  Channel. 
While  on  the  voyage,  the  vessel  was  taken  by 
an  American  ship  of  war,  and  the  books  were 
all  carried  into  Beverly,  and  were  afterwards 
sold  at  auction,  in  Salem.  Of  all  in  the  world 
these  books  were  perhaps  those  most  needed  by 
the  apprentice.  He  had  been  studying  those 
sciences  chiefly,  concerning  which  there  were 
very  few  works  printed  in  America ;  and  sud- 
denly he  found  himself  allowed  free  access  to 
all  the  important  books  which  had  been  printed 
in  Europe,  upon  these  same  subjects.  You  may 
readily  imagine  how  eagerly  he  av^ailed  himself 
of  the  opportunity  thus  afforded  him.     Every 


20  MEMOIR   OP 

two  or  three  days  he  was  seen  with  a  number 
of  volumes  under  his  arm,  going  homeward,  and 
on  his  arrival  there,  he  read  and  copied  all  he 
wanted  to  study  at  that  time  or  refer  to  after- 
wards. He  made,  in  this  way,  a  very  large  col- 
lection of  manuscripts,  and  which  now  form  a  part 
of  his  library.  Thus,  by  his  own  exertions,  he, 
at  the  early  age  of  eighteen,  became  acquainted 
with  the  writings  of  most  of  the  learned  men 
of  Europe ;  and  he  did  this,  at  the  time  when 
he  was  engaged  almost  constansly  in  his  store, 
for  he  made  it  a  strict  rule,  never  to  allow  any 
study  or  reading,  however  interesting,  to  inter- 
fere with  his  duties  to  his  employers. 

Upon  one  occasion  indeed,  a  customer  called 
and  purchased  a  pair  of  hinges  at  a  time  when 
the  young  clerk  was  deeply  engaged  in  solving 
a  problem  in  mathematics,  which  he  thought  he 
would  finish  before  charging  the  delivery  of  them 
upon  the  books,  and  when  the  problem  was 
solved  he  forgot  the  matter  altogether.  In  a 
few  days,  the  customer  called  again  to  pay  for 
them,  when  Mr.  Hodges  himself  was  in  the 
shop.  The  books  were  examined  and  gave  no 
account  of  this  purchase.  The  clerk  upon  be- 
ing applied  to,  at  once  recollected  the  circum- 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCH.  21 

Stance,  and  the  reason  of  his  own  forget  fulness, 
and  from  that  day  he  made  it  an  invariable  rule 
to  finish  every  matter  of  business  that  he  be- 
gan, before  undertaking  any  thing  else.  Per- 
haps some  of  you  may  remember  the  story,  and 
vi^hen  you  think  of  leaving  anything  half  finished, 
you  may  repeat  to  yourselves,  "''  Charge  your 
hinges,  and  finish  what  you  begin." 

Having  been  instructed  in  the  elements  of  al- 
gebra, Nathaniel  soon  found  that  there  were 
books  written  upon  it  in  other  languages,  which 
he  knew  he  ought  to  read,  if  he  intended  to 
learn  as  much  about  it  as  he  could.  One  of 
these  books  was  written  in  a  tongue  which  is 
known  by  the  name  of  a  dead  language,  in  con- 
sequence of  its  having  ceased  to  be  spoken  by 
the  people  of  the  country  in  which  it  was  origi- 
nally used.  It  was  in  Latin.  This  language 
usually  requires  many  years  of  study,  if  one 
wishes  to  read  it  v/ell,  even  v^/hen  he  has  able 
instructers.  Our  hero,  however,  never  thought 
of  the  difficulties  he  had  to  surmount,  but  com- 
menced, alone,  the  study  of  it,  June  1790.  He 
was  soon  in  trouble.  He  could  not  understand 
his  Latin  book  on  mathematics.  He  asked 
many  who  had  been  at  college,  but  they  were 


22  MEMOIR   OF 

puzzled  by  the  peculiar  expressions  as  much  as 
he  was.  At  length,  however,  by  the  aid  of  his 
friend.  Dr.  Bentley,  and  afterwards,  of  a  German 
who  gave  him  lessons,  he  succeeded  in  master- 
ing the  greatest  work  in  modern  times,  written 
by  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  who,  you  know,  was  one 
of  the  most  renowned  philosophers  that  has  ever 
lived  in  this  world.  He  moreover  discovered  in 
one  part  of  it,  a  mistake,  which,  several  years 
afterwards,  he  published  ;  but  he  was  deterred 
from  doing  so  at  first,  because  a  very  much  older 
person  than  he,  a  professor  in  the  college,  said 
that  the  apprentice  was  mistaken. 

But  Latin  was  not  the  only  language  that  he 
learned.  Finding  in  the  Kirwan  library  many 
books  upon  mathematics,  written  in  French,  he 
determined  to  learn  that  tongue,  likewise.  Ac- 
cordingly, at  the  age  of  nineteen,  (May  15, 
1792,)  he  began  to  study  it.  Fortunately,  he 
was  able  to  make  an  arrarigement  with  the 
above-mentioned  foreigner,  who  wished  to  learn 
English.  Mr.  Jordy  agreed  to  teach  the  ap- 
prentice French,  on  condition  that  Nathaniel 
would  teach  him  English.  For  sixteen  months 
they  met  regularly,  a  certain  number  of  times 
a  week,  and  the  consequences  were  very  impor- 


NATHANIEL   BOWDITCH.  23 

tant  to  the  youth's  future  success  in  Hfe.  One 
circumstance  took  place  during  this  study  of 
French  which  I  think  it  important  to  mention. 
Nathaniel,  thinking  merely  to  learn  to  read  a 
French  book,  supposed  that  it  would  be  scarcely 
necessary  to  spend  time  in  learning  accurately 
to  pronounce  the  words.  These,  as  is  the  case 
in  the  English  tongue,  are  frequently  pronounced 
very  differently  from  the  manner  in  which  we 
should  be  led  to  speak  them,  if  we  judged  merely 
from  their  mode  of  being  spelled.  His  master 
protested  against  teaching,  without  reference  to 
the  pronunciation ;  and,  after  much  arguing, 
Nathaniel  consented  to  the  wishes  of  his  in- 
structer,  and  he  studied  the  lano-uao^e  in  such  a 
way,  that  he  could  converse  with  a  Frenchman, 
as  well  as  read  a  French  book.  You  will  soon 
see  the  good  that  resulted.  But  now  I  must 
close  my  chapter. 


24  *  MEMOIR    OF 


CHAPTER  III. 


[From  1784  to  1796,  —  age,  10  —  22.1 

Apprenticeship  continued.  —  Favorite  of  his  companions. 

—  Learns  music:  neglects  his  studies  for  a  time.  —  Gets 
into  bad  society :  his  decision  in  freeing  himself  from  it. 

—  Engages  in  a  survey  of  the  town  of  Salem.  —  Sails  on 
his  first  voyage  to  the  East  Indies  :  extracts  from  his 
Journal  during  this  voyage  :  arrival  at  the  Isle  of  Bour- 
bon:  return  home. 


Though  so  interested  in  his  studies,  Na- 
thaniel tried,  as  we  have  seen,  never  to  neglect 
a  known  duty.  Though  busily  engaged,  when- 
ever any  one  came  to  the  store  he  was  ready  to 
leave  study,  in  order  to  attend  to  him.  And  he 
did  this  so  cheerfully,  and  with  so  bright  a  smile, 
that  all  were  pleased  to  meet  him.  His  young 
companions  loved  him,  for  he  was  not  one  of 
those  vain  persons  who  think  themselves  more 
important  than  others,  because  they  are  more 
learned.  On  the  contrary,  what  he  knew  him- 
self he  longed  to  impart  to  others.  He  was  a 
member  of  a  juvenile  club,  for  the  discussion  of 
different  subjects.  In  this  association  his  opinion 
had  much  weight,  because  he  rarely  spoke,  and 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCH.  25 

never,  unless  he  had  something  of  importance 
to  say. 

Some  of  his  comrades  were  very  fond  of  music. 
He  had  originally  a  great  taste  for  it.  Music,  at 
that  time,  was  less  cultivated  than  it  is  now  ;  and 
generally,  those  who  practised  it  were  fond  of 
drinking  ardent  spirits.  Nathai.iers  love  of  the 
flute  led  him,  at  times,  to  meet  with  several 
young  men  of  this  class.  In  fact,  he  was  so 
much  deHghted  with  their  company,  that  he  be- 
gan to  forget  his  studies.  Day  after  day,  he  spent 
his  leisure  hours  in  their  society  ;  and,  for  a  time, 
all  else  was  nedected.  At  leno;th,  he  beo;an  to 
think  thus  :  ''  What  am  I  doing  ?  forgetting  my 
studies,  in  order  to  be  with  young  men  whose 
only  recommendation  is,  that  they  love  music  ? 
Their  characters  I  despise,  though  I  love  their 
songs.  I  will  do  so  no  longer."  He  decided, 
and  immediately  he  forsook  them. 

May  every  boy  who  reads  this  remember  it, 
and  try,  if  ever  led  into  temptation  as  the  ap- 
prentice was,  to  say,  '^  I  will  not,"  with  the 
same  determined  courage  that  he  did. 

The  time  was  fast  approaching,  when  he  was 
about  to  leave  the  business  of  shop-keeping,  and 
enter  upon  the  more  active  duties  of  life.    It  is 


26  MEMOIR   OF 

true^  that,  to  a  certain  extent,  he  had  been  en- 
gaged in  active  life  ever  since  entering  his  ap- 
prenticeship. At  the  age  of  ten,  he  had  left  the 
home  of  his  loved  mother,  and  had  been  obliged 
to  depend  much  upon  himself.  His  father's 
habits  had  wholly  prevented  him  from  being  of 
service  to  the  family.  The  mother  had  died  ; 
the  family  had  been  broken  up  ;  and  Nathaniel 
had  thus  at  an  early  age  been  thrown  upon  the 
world.  After  having  remained  with  Ropes  & 
Hodges  until  they  gave  up  business,  Nathaniel 
entered  the  shop  of  Samuel  C.  Ward,  which 
was  a  similar  establishment,  and  there  he  re- 
mained until  he  was  twenty-one  years  old.  He 
then  quitted,  forever,  this  employment. 

In  1794,  by  a  law  of  the  State,  every  town 
was  obliged  to  have  an  accurate  survey  and 
measurement  made  of  its  limits.  Captain  Gi- 
baut  and  Dr.  Bentley  were  appointed  to  super- 
intend this  business,  by  the  Selectmen  of  Salem. 
Believing  that  the  calculating  powers  of  the 
apprentice  would  be  useful  to  them,  he  was 
made  assistant;  and,  during  the  summer  of 
1794,  he  was  thus  occupied.  Thus  we  see  how 
his  studies  already  began  to  be  useful  to  him. 
For  his  share  of  the  pay,  on  this  occasion,  he 


NATHANIEL   BOWDITCH.  27 

received  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  dollars. 
Towards  the  termination  of  the  summer,  Mr. 
Derby,  a  rich  ship-owner  in  Salem,  wished  Capt. 
Gibaut  to  take  command  of  a  vessel  to  Cadiz, 
and  thence  round  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  to 
the  East  Indies.  Captain  G.  consented,  and 
he  proposed  to  Mr.  Bowditch  to  go  with  him, 
as  clerk.  Mr.  B.  agreed  to  the  terms,  and  ar- 
rangements were  made,  when,  owing  to  some 
difficulty  with  Mr.  Derby,  Captain  Gibaut  re- 
signed to  Captain  H.  Prince.  Mr.  Bowditch 
was  unknown  to  the  latter ;  but,  at  the  sugges- 
tion of  Mr.  Derby,  who  had  heard  of  the  talents 
and  industry  of  the  clerk,  the  same  arrange- 
ments were  continued  by  Captain  Prince. 

Thus  we  see  a  nev/  era  in  his  life  was  begin- 
ning ;  and  let  us  look  a  moment  at  him.  He  is 
now  twenty-one  years  of  age.  More  learned, 
already,  than  many  much  older  than  himiself,  in 
consequence  of  his  untiring  industry,  and  his 
devotion  to  duty.  Yet  he  is  modest  and  retir- 
ing. He  is  still  full  of  joyousness  and  fun,  at 
times,  and  always  ready  for  acts  of  kindness. 
Above  all,  he  is  a  good  youth ;  no  immorality 
has  ever  stained  him  ;  he  is  as  pure  as  snow.  His 
love  of  truth  had  been  given  him  by  his  mother  ; 


28  MEMOIR    OF 

and,  since  her  death,  he  has  loved  it  still  more. 
It  is  to  him  a  bright  light,  as  it  were,  to  guide 
him.       Cannot  we  foresee  his  career  ? 

On  January  11,  1795,  that  is,  when  he  was 
a  few  months  more  than  twenty-one  years  of 
age,  he  sailed  from  Salem,  in  the  ship  Henry. 
Though  he  went  as  clerk,  he  was  prepared  to 
undertake  the  more  active  duties  of  sailor  and 
mate  of  the  vessel.  Thinking  that  he  should 
be  too  much  occupied  to  be  able  to  read,  he 
took  very  few  books  ;  and  therefore  he  devoted 
much  more  time  to  observ^ations  of  the  heavenly 
bodies,  the  state  of  the  weather,  Sic,  while  at 
sea,  and  upon  the  manners  and  habits  of  the 
nations  he  visited,  than  he  did  to  reading. 
Though  he  had  not  been  educated  as  a  sailor- 
boy,  his  studies  had  prepared  him  to  understand 
the  most  important  part  of  a  seaman's  Hfe,  the 
art  of  p-uidino;  the  vessel  from  one  shore  to 
another,  across  the  ocean.  In  other  words,  he 
had  studied  much  on  navigation,  and  copied 
books  upon  that  subject. 

The  journal  which  lie  kept  during  the  voyage 
is  quite  long.  One  of  the  first  lines  you  meet, 
on  opening  the  book,  is  the  motto  which  he 
chose  for  himself.     It  is  in  Latin,  and  means^ 


NATHANIEL   BOWDITCH. 


29 


that  he  ivould  do  what  he  thought  to  he  right, 
and  not  obey  the  dictates  of  any  man.  He 
notes  the  events  of  eveiy  day,  most  of  which 
are  similar  ;  but  occasionally,  something  unusual 
occurs. 

February  7,  1795,  he  writes  thus:  ^^  At  10, 
A.  M.,  spoke  a  ship,  twenty-five  days  out  from 
Liverpool,  bound  to  Africa.  We  discovered  her 
this  morning,  just  before  sunrise,  and  supposed 
her  to  be  a  frigate."  They  discovered,  soon, 
that  it  was  a  negro  slave-ship,  and  he  exclaims 
thus :  "  God  grant  that  the  detestable  traffic 
which  she  pursues  may  soon  cease,  and  that  the 
tawny  sons  of  Africa  may  be  permitted  quietly 
to  enjoy  the  blessings  of  liberty,  in  their  native 
land." 

'^  February  22.  We  remember  with  gratitude 
that  this  is  the  anniversary  of  the  birth  of  our 
beloved  Washington,  the  man  who  unites  all 
hearts.  May  he  long  continue  a  blessing  to  his 
country  and  to  mankind  at  large !  " 

During  the  passage  to  the  Isle  of  Bourbon, 
situated,  as  you  know,  east  of  the  southern  ex- 
tremity of  Africa,  he  frequently  alludes  to  his 
'native  land,  in  terms  of  respect  and  love.  On 
May  8th,  the  ship  arrived  in  the  harbor  of  Bour- 


30  MEMOIR   OF 

bon.     Perhaps  you  may  like  to  see  his  descrip- 
tion of  the  town. 

"  May  9th.  After  dinner,  Captain  P.,  Mr. 
B.j  and  I,  went  to  see  the  town.  It  is  a  fine 
place.  All  the  streets  run  in  straight  lines  from 
the  shore,  and  cross  one  another  at  right  angles. 
There  is  a  church  here,  with  a  priest  to  officiate. 
I  went  into  it.  We  afterwards  went  into  the 
republican  garden.  It  is  a  beautiful  place, 
though  at  present  much  neglected.  The  differ- 
ent walks  are  made  to  meet  in  the  centre,  and 
form  the  figure  of  a  star,  each  one  of  the  rays  of 
which  is  formed  by  thirty-four  mango  trees, 
placed  from  twelve  to  fourteen  feet  apart.  All 
the  houses  of  the  island  are  built  very  low  ; 
they  have  no  chimneys.  They  are  two  stories 
high,  (about  ten  feet),  have  lattice  windows, 
outside  of  which  are  w^ooden  ones  to  keep  off 
the  sun  and  rain.  The  floors  are  made  of  the 
wood  of  the  country,  on  which  they  rub  wax,  as 
the  women  of  America  do  on  their  furniture.  It 
makes  them  very  slippery." — There  are  other 
places,  of  which  he  speaks,  and  in  them  he  finds 
flower-gardens,  in  abundance,  intermixed  with 
groves  of  coffee  and  orange  trees,  &;c. 


NATHANIEL    EOWDITCH.  31 

He  afterwards  alludes  to  the  poor  slaves,  who, 
it  appeared,  suffered  as  much  there  as  they  do 
in  some  other  places,  at  the  present  day. 

He  visits  the  people  of  the  place,  and  finds 
them  superstitious  and  vicious.  Alluding  to  the 
vice,  he  found  there,  he  writes  :  ^'  I  was  remind- 
ed of  the  beautiful  words  of  Solomon,  in  the 
Proverbs."— This  was  not  the  only  occasion  on 
which  he  remembered  his  Bible  ;  and  it  seemed 
to  have  a  kindly  influence  over  him,  always.  On 
one  occasion,  several  young  men  argued  with 
him  about  its  truth ;  and,  having  heard  them 
patiently,  he  at  length  struck  his  breast :  ''  Talk 
no  more  about  it.  I  know  that  the  Bible  is 
true  ;  that  it  is  capable  of  doing  to  me  the 
greatest  good.  I  know  so,  by  the  feelings  I 
have  here." 

After  remaining  in  this  corrupt  place  until 
July  25,  he  set  sail  for  home,  and  arrived  in 
Salem,  January  11,  1796,  having  been  absent 
exactly  twelve  months. 


32  MEMOIR    OF 


CHAPTER   IV. 

[From  1796  to  1797,  —  aged  23  —  4.] 

Second  Voyage.  —  Visits  Lisbon.  —  Island  of  Madeira: 
festival  and  games  there.  —  Anecdotes  of  his  skill  as  an 
accountant. — Doubles  Cape  of  Good  Hope. —  Alba- 
trosses. —  Arrival  at  Manilla.  —  Extracts  from  Journal. 
Curious  boat.  —  Earthquake.  —  Voyage  home. 

After  remaining  at  home  about  two 
months,  he  again  sailed  in  the  same  ship  and 
with  Captain  Prince.  On  the  twenty-sixth  of 
the  following  March,  they  got  under  weigh 
from  Salem  harbor ;  but,  being  prevented,  by 
the  severity  of  the  wind,  from  getting  out  of  the 
bay,  the  anchor  w^as  dropped  dm'ing  the  night, 
and  on  the  ensuing  morning,  under  fair  but 
strong  breezes,  our  hero  was  again  on  his  way 
across  the  wide  Atlantic.  His  course  was  to- 
wards Lisbon,  situated  at  the  mouth  of  the  river 
Tagus,  in  Portugal.  The  first  part  of  the  voy- 
age w^as  unpleasant,  because  cloudy  and  stormy 
weather  prevailed  most  of  the  time  ;  but  during 
the  latter  part,  under  pleasant  and  mild  breezes 
from  the  south,  the  ship  rode  gaily  onwards, 
and,  on  the  morning  of  April  24th3  the  sailor 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCH.  33 

discovered  the  rock  of  Lisbon,  with  its  beautiful 
and  romantic  country  behind  it.  Lisbon  is  the 
chief  city  of  Portugal,  and  presents  a  very 
superb  appearance  from  a  vessel  which  is  enter- 
ing the  harbor.  It  is  the  principal  commercial 
place  for  the  kingdom  ;  therefore,  its  inhabitants 
are  among  the  richest.  In  consequence  of  its 
being  the  place  of  residence  of.  the  kings  of 
Portugal,  many  magnificent  country-seats,  or 
villas,  are  seen  on  all  the  vine-covered  hills  of 
the  adjacent  country. 

The  stay  at  this  city  was  but  short,  and  the 
opportunities  for  visiting  the  interesting  places 
in  it,  very  limited.  Mr.  Bowditch  seems  not  to 
have  been  particularly  pleased  with  its  appear- 
ance. At  the  time  he  was  there,  probably 
much  less  attention  was  paid  to  the  cleanliness 
of  the  streets,  than  there  is  now.  But  he  spent 
the  twenty-eighth  and  twenty-ninth  of  April  in 
walking  about  the  city,  and  says,  in  his  Journal, 
that  he  *'  found  nothing  remarkable." 

It  was  at  Lisbon  that  Mr.  Bowditch  discov- 
ered the  advantage  of  having  learned  to  speak 
French,  to  w^hich  I  alluded  at  the  close  of  the 
second  chapter.  Though  a  Portuguese  port, 
the  custom-house  officers  understood  French^ 
3 


34  MEMOIR   OF 

and  no  one  on  board  but  he  could  speak  any 
other  language  than  the  English.  The  conse- 
quence was,  that  he  acted  as  mterpreter,  and 
was,  of  course,  of  incalculable  advantage.  This 
incident  made  a  deep  impression  upon  his  mind  ; 
and  in  after-life,  when  any  doubted  about  the 
importance  of  any  kind  of  knowledge,  because, 
for  the  time,  it  seemed  useless,  he  would  reply, 
"  Oh,  study  every  thing,  and  your  learning  will,  - 
some  time,  be  of  service.  I  once  said  that  I 
would  not  learn  to  speak  French,  because  I 
thought  that  I  should  never  leave  my  native 
town  ;  yet,  within  a  few  years  afterwards,  I  was 
in  a  foreign  port,  and  I  became  sole  interpreter 
of  the  ship's  crew,  in  consequence  of  m.y  ability 
to  speak  this  language." 

On  the  30th,  having  taken  on  board  a  quan- 
tity of  wine,  they  were  ready  again  for  sea  ;  but, 
owing  to  bad  weather,  did  not  sail  until  the 
sixth  of  May,  when  the  ship  dropped  down  the 
river.  On  the  sixth,  it  was  on  its  way  to  the 
Island  of  Madeira,  which  is  a  small  island,  situa- 
ted about  three  hundred  and  sixty  miles  from  the 
northern  part  of  Africa.  At  eleven  o'clock. 
May  15th,  the  island  was  discovered  ;  and,  un- 
der full  sail,  the  ship  swept  along  the  shore, 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCH.  35 

until  nine  in  the  evening,  when  they  hailed  a 
pilot,  who  came  on  board  from  the  town  of 
Funchal.  Mr.  Pintard,  the  American  Consul 
of  the  place,  greeted  them  very  cordially.  He 
spent  six  days  there,  taking  in  more  wine,  for 
which  the  country  is  famous,  and  sailed  from  it 
on  Thursday  morning,  May  26th,  1796.  Dur- 
ing this  residence  at  Mr.  Pintard's,  he  saw  some 
feats  of  horsemanship,  about  which  you  may  like 
to  hear.  They  are  thus  described  in  his  Jour- 
nal :  **'  A  ring  being  suspended  by  a  small  wire 
about  ten  feet  from  the  ground,  at  the  entrance 
of  the  gate  of  the  public  garden,  a  horseman 
attempted  to  strike  it,  and  carry  it  off  while 
upon  full  gallop.  If  he  gained  the  prize,  he  was 
attended  by  the  master  of  ceremonies,  mount- 
ed on  a  small  colt  fantastically  adorned  with 
ribands,  Sic,  with  a  most  deformed  mask,  who 
generally  gave  him  a  reward  fully  proportioned 
to  the  merit  of  the  action,  perhaps  a  whistle,  a 
small  flower,  or  some  little  image."  During  the 
next  day,  no  business  was  done  by  the  inhabit- 
ants, but  the  whole  of  it  was  devoted  to  amuse- 
ments similar  to  those  of  the  preceding.  Again, 
there  were  masquerades,  and  some  of  the  richest 
men  in  the  place  joined  with  the  crowd,  masked 


36  MEMOIR  OF 

like  the  people.  Others  were  very  richlj 
dressed,  like  Turks,  East  Indians,  &c.  One  of 
them  wore  a  head-dress,  worth,  it  was  said,  forty 
or  fifty  thousand  dollars."  From  this  descrip- 
tion, slight  as  it  is,  we  may  see  the  difference  in 
the  customs  between  these  inhabitants  of  Ma- 
deira and  the  Americans. 

Captain    Prince  relates   the  following  anec- 
dotes, which  occurred   during  their  residence  at 
Madeira.     I   shall  use  Capt.  Prince's  words : 
''  1  was  one  day  walking  with  an  American 
shipmaster  at  Madeira,  who,  in  the  course  of 
conversation,  asked  me   who   that  young  man 
(alluding  to   Mr.   Bowditch)   was.     I   replied, 
that  he  was  clerk  of  the  ship  under  my  com- 
mand, and  remarked,  that  he  was  a  great  calcu- 
lator.    *'  Well,"  said  the  gentleman,  "  I  can  set 
him  a  sum  that  he  can't  do."    I   merely  an- 
swered that  I  did  not  believe  it.     The  gentle- 
man then  proposed  a  wager  of  a   dinner  to  all 
the  American  masters  in  port,  that  he  could  set 
him  such  a  sum.     The  wager  was  accepted   by 
me,  and  we   repaired  to  the  hotel,  where  we 
found  Mr.  B.  alone.    The  gentlem.an  was  intro- 
duced, and  the  question  stated  to  Mr.  Bowditch, 
with  the  interrogatory,  can  you  do  it }     The  re- 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCH.  87 

ply  was,  yes.  The  great  sum,  which  had  puz- 
zled the  brains  of  the  gentleman  and  all  his 
friends  at  home,  for  a  whole  winter,  was  done  in 
a  few  minutes.  I  remember  the  sum  (as  it  was 
called)  to  have  been  this :  To  dig  a  ditch  round 
an  acre  of  land,  how  deep  and  how  wide  must 
that  ditch  be,  to  raise  the  acre  of  land  one  foot? 
''  One  day,  Mr.  Bowditch  and  myself  re- 
ceived a  visit  from  a  Mr.  Murray,  a  Scotchman, 
who  was  at  that  port,  having  under  his  charge  a 
valuable  cargo  of  English  goods,  and  who  made 
many  inquiries  concerning  the  Americans.  He 
asked  particular!}^,  what  passage  we  came 
against  the  northeast  monsoon,  and  remarked, 
that  it  was  very  surprising  that  the  Americans 
should  come  so  far  and  undertake  such  difficult 
voyages  with  so  little  knowledge  as  they  pos- 
sessed of  the  science  of  navigation.  In  reply  to 
his  remark,  I  told  him,  that  1  had  on  board 
twelve  men,  all  of  whom  were  as  well  acquaint- 
ed with  working  lunar  observations,  for  all  the 
practical  purposes  of  navigation,  as  Sir  Isaac 
Newton  would  be,  should  he  come  on  earth. 
Mr.  M.  asked  how  my  crew  came  by  that 
knowledge.  I  told  him,  in  the  same  manner 
that  other  men  came  by  theirs.     He  tliought  it 


38 


MEMOIR    OF 


SO  wonderful,  that  (as  he  afterwards  told  me) 
he  went  down  to  the  landing  place  on  Sunday, 
to  see  my  knoiving  crew  come  on  shore.  During 
all  this  conversation,  Mr.  Bowditch  remained 
silent,  sitting  with  his  slate  pencil  in  his  mouth, 
and  as  modest  as  a  maid.  Mr.  Kean,  a  broker, 
who  was  also  present,  observed  to  Murray, 
'  Sir,  if  you  knew  what  I  know  concerning  that 
ship,  you  would  not  talk  quite  so  fast.'  .  ^  And 
what  do  you  know  ? '  asked  Murray.  '  I  know,' 
replied  Kean,  '  that  there  is  more  knowledge  of 
navigation  on  board  that  American  ship,  (the 
Astrea,)  than  there  ever  was  in  all  the  ships 
that  ever  came  into  Manilla  Bay.'  " 

May  26th,  as  we  have  already  said,  he  sailed 
for  India.  On  July  Ist,  the  island  of  Trinidad 
hove  in  sight.  They  did  not  stop  there,  but, 
keeping  on  their  course  steadily,  two  days  after- 
wards crossed  the  Tropic  of  Capricorn,  in  the 
Southern  Hemisphere.  On  the  17th,  during 
the  night,  it  having  rained  during  the  day,  the 
young  sailor  observed  what  we  rarely  see  in  this 
part  of  the  world  and  on  land,  but  which  is  not 
uncommon  at  sea,  a  beautiful  lunar  rainbow.  It 
is  caused  in  the  same  manner  as  those  rainbows 
which  are  seen  after  a  summer  shower,  when 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCH.  80 

the  sun  is  just  coming  forth  again  in  glory,  and 
the  clouds,  which  cause  the  bow  to  be  formed, 
are  passing  away  afar  off  in  the  opposite  part  of 
the  heavens.  But  the  difference  between  the 
solar  and  lunar  rainbows,  is  like  that  which 
exists  between  greatness  and  gentleness.  We 
admire  and  wonder  at  the  sight  of  the  bow  of 
Jehovah  in  the  cloud  by  day,  but  we  love  to 
look  upon  the  mild  and  peaceful  Lunar  Iris, 
because  all  its  tints  are  so  rich,  and  delicately 
beautiful. 

August  1st,  the  Journal  says  :  *'  All  the  latter 
part  of  these  twenty-four  hours  fine  breezes  and 
pleasant,  smoodi  sea.  Ever  since  crossing  the 
Cape,  [of  Good  Hope,]  we  have  seen  a  great 
number  of  Albatrosses,  but  no  fish."  These 
birds  are  the  largest  of  marine  birds.  They  at 
times  fly  and  swim,  (for  they  are  web-footed,) 
to  a  great  distance  from  land,  living  upon  the 
fish  and  other  things  which  may  fall  in  their  way. 
It  is  said  that,  as  they  come  gently  rising  over 
the  waves  of  the  sea,  they  present  a  very  pleas- 
ing sight  to  the  mariner  who  has  been  for  many 
months  separated  from  living  things,  upon  the 
wide  ocean. 

For  some  weeks  afterwards,  the  ship  met  with 


to  BIEMOIR    OF 

severe  weather,  until  September  7th,  when,  ac- 
cording to  previous  expectation,  they  perceived 
the  land  of  the  island  of  Java  ;  but  the  day  be- 
fore their  arrival  at  that  place,  a  curious  pheno*- 
menon  was  observed,  the  account  of  which  1 
will  copy  from  the  Journal.  '^  At  7,  P.  M.,  the 
water,  as  for  the  ^two  nights  past,  became  of  a 
perfect  milk  color,  through  the  whole  extent  of 
the  horizon.  We  drew  a  bucket  of  it,  in  order 
to  determine  whether  there  was  any  thing  in  it, 
to  account  for  the  curious  phenomenon.  When 
seen  by  candlelight,  nothing  could  be  observed ; 
but,  when  carried  into  a  dark  place,  it  appeared 
full  of  small  bright  cylindric  substances,  of  the 
nature  of  a  jelly,  about  the  size  of  a  small  wire, 
and  a  quarter  of  an  inch  long.  Some  large  jel- 
lies floated  on  the  water  at  the  same  time,  and 
looked  like  long  pieces  of  wood.  The  sky  all 
this  time  was  perfectly  clear  ;  not  a  cloud  to  be 
seen.  About  o,  A.  M.,  the  water  began  to  take 
its  usual  color.  Next  morning,  we  examined 
the  water  which  had  appeared  so  shining  in  the 
night,  but  nothing  could  be  discovered  in  it, 
although  it  was  viewed  in  a  very  dark  place. 
In  the  forenoon,  the  sea  appeared  somewhat  col- 
ored, of  a  greenish  hue,  but  some  of  it  being 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCH.  41        | 

taken  up,  and  carried  from  the  light,  appeared 
colorless.'^ 

The  next  mornino;  the  hig-hlands  of  the  island  of 
Java  come  in  sight,  on  the  horizon,  at  the  distance 
of  about  twenty  miles  towards  the  east.  The  Jour- 
nal of  the  passage  through  the  Straits  of  Sunda  is 
interesting,  because  the  greatest  care  was  necessary 
to  keep  the  ship  off  from  the  shoals  which  abound 
there.  Moreover,  the  current  runs  at  times  very 
swiftly  here,  the  Strait  being  between  the  large 
islands  of  Sumatra  and  Java.  On  the  9th,  the 
force  of  this  current,  and  strong  head  winds, 
caused  the  captain  to  cast  anchor  two  or  three 
times.  Finally,  on  the  17th,  the  ship  w^as  fairly 
out  of  the  Straits  of  Sunda  and  Straits  of  Banca, 
having  been  ten  days,  during  sultry  weather, 
toiling,  with  much  danger,  amid  coral  reef 
and  shoals.  The  remainder  of  the  voyage, 
along  by  the  coast  of  Borneo  to  the  city  of  Ma- 
nilla, the  capital  of  the  chief  of  the  Philippine 
islands,  was  more  speedy  ;  and,  at  six  in  the 
morning  of  Sunday,  Oct.  2nd,  1796,  the  island 
of  Luzor  hove  in  sight  towards  the  east,  about 
eighteen  miles  ;  and  that  same  evening  they  cast 
anchor  in  Manilla  Bay ;  it  being  a  little  more 


42 


MEMOIR   OF 


than  six  months  since  the  sailor  had  left  his  home 
in  Salem. 

The  following  are  some  extracts  from  his  jour- 
nal, while  in  the  city.  Under  date  of  October 
4th,  he  says  :  "  No  coffee  can  be  procured  here ; 
the  Spaniards,  not  being  very  fond  of  it,  culti- 
vate the  cocoa,  instead.  The  common  drink  of 
the  natives  are  sweatmeats  and  water,  which 
they  say  is  wholesome  and  agreeable.  Large 
quantities  of  wax  are  produced  here,  but  it  is 
very  dear,  owing  to  the  vast  consumption  of  it 
in  the  churches,  of  which  there  are  a  great 
number  in  Manilla  and  its  environs.  There  are 
a  few  bishops  in  the  island,  and  one  archbishop, 
whose  power  is  very  great.  The  priests  are 
very  powerful,  every  native  wearing  the  image 
of  the  Virgin  Mary,  a  cross,  or  some  such  thing. 
No  books  are  allowed  to  be  imported  here  con- 
trary to  their  religion.  The  commandant  who 
makes  the  visit  examines  every  vessel.  ^  ^  * 
The  inhabitants  of  the  city  and  suburbs  are  very 
numerous,  amounting  to  nearly  three  hundred 
thousand.  In  the  Philippines,  there  are  about 
two  or  three  millions.  A  great  number  are 
Chinese ;  and  in  general,  they  are  a  well-made 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCH.  43 

people.  Their  common  dress  is  a  shirt  and 
trowsers,  or  jackets  and  trowsers.  The  women 
have  great  numbers  of  handkerchiefs  about  thcni, 
so  as  to  be  entirely  covered.  The  natives  are 
well  used  by  the  Spaniards  ;  the  king  of  Spain, 
in  all  his  public  papers,  calling  them  his  child- 
ren." From  these  extracts  you  may  judge  of 
young  Bowditch's  mode  of  studying  a  people 
when  residing  with  strangers.  He  afterwards 
speaks  of  their  games,  &c. 

The  following  description  of  a  boat  appears 
on  record  of  October  5th  :  ''  At  twelve,  set  sail 
for  Cavite  in  one  of  the  passage-boats,  which  is 
very  inconvenient  for  passengers  ;  being  nearly 
three  hours  before  arriving  at  Cavite,  during 
which  time  I  was  basking  in  the  sun.  Their 
boats  and  manner  of  sailing  are  very  curious. 
Having  generally  light  winds,  they  make  their 
mat  sails  very  large,  and  the  boats,  made  of  the 
bodies  of  trees,  are  very  long  and  narrow,  so 
that  there  would  be  great  danger  of  upsetting, 
if  it  were  not  for  ''  out-riggers "  which  they 
have  on  each  side,  consisting  of  two  bamboos 
about  eight  or  ten  feet  long,  whose  ends 
are  joined  to  another  long  bamboo,  running 
lengthwise  of  the  boat.     The  lee  one,  on  a  flaw 


44  MEMOIR   OF 

of  wind,  sinks  a  little  in  the  water,  and,  being 
buoyant,  keeps  the  boats  from  upsetting,  and,  on 
the  weather  (that  is,  towards  the  wind)  ones, 
the  persons  in  the  boat  are  continually  going  out 
and  in,  according  to  the  force  of  the  breeze.  In 
a  fresh  breeze,  there  will  be  six  or  eight  at  the 
end  of  the  bamboo,  there  being  ropes  leading 
from  the  top  of  the  rnast  to  different  parts  of 
the  bamboo,  to  support  them  as  they  go.  By 
this  means,  they  keep  the  boat  always  upright, 
and  make  it  sail  very  fast,  in  a  good  breeze, 
going  five  or  six  knots."  After  this,  a  good 
account  is  ^iven  of  the  mode  of  countinfi,  used 
by  the  Malays. 

*^  Nov.  5.  About  two,  P.  M.,  there  came 
on,  without  any  preceding  noise,  a  very  violent 
shock  of  an  earthquake.  It  commenced  toward 
the  north,  and  run  very  nearly  in  a  southerly 
direction.  It  continued  nearly  two  minutes  ; 
every  thing  appeared  in  motion.  When  it  hap- 
pened, the  captain  and  myself  were  sitting,  read- 
ing, and  we  immediately  ran  out  of  the  house. 
All  the  natives  were  down  on  their  knees,  in 
the  middle  of  the  streets,  praying  and  crossing 
themselves.  It  was  the  most  violent  earthquake 
known  for  a  number  of  years.     It  threw  down 


NATHANIEL   BOWDITCH.  45 

a  large  house  about  half  a  league  from  the  city, 
untiled  one  of  their  churches,  and  did  considera- 
ble damage  to  the  houses  about  the  city  and  its 
suburbs.  Nothing  of  it  was  felt  on  board  the 
shipping." 

On  Monday,  December  12th,  having  sold 
their  wines  and  laden  their  vessel  with  sugar, 
indigo,  pepper,  and  hides,  the  party  set  sail  from 
Manilla,  heartily  tired  with  the  vices  and  super- 
stitions of  the  place.  Retracing  their  course 
through  the  Straits  of  Sunda,  with  much  diffi- 
culty they  regained  the  Indian  Ocean,  and  then, 
setting  full  sail,  they  once  more  looked  towards 
home. 

In  coming  round  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope, 
the  wind  was  peculiarly  favorable.  During  their 
passage,  several  ships  were  met  with,  all  of 
whom  told  them  of  home,  and  of  the  beginning 
of  troubles  between  America  and  France,  and 
England.  Finally,  at  six,  A.  M.,  saw  Cape 
Ann  towards  the  northwest,  and  at  two,  P.  M., 
May  22,  1797,  the  vessel  was  riding  at  anchor 
in  Salem  harbor,  having  been  about  half  round 
the  world,  and  nearly  fourteen  months  from 
Salem. 


46  MEMOIR   OF 


CHAPTER  V. 


[From  1797  to  1800,  —  aged  24  —  7.] 

Marriage.  —  Third  voyage  ;  visits  Spain.  —  Dangers.  — 
Earl  St.  Vincent's  tieet.  —  Arrival  at  Cadiz.  •— Observa- 
tory at  Cadiz.  —  Sails  for  Alicant.  —  Passage  through  the 
Straits  of  Gibraltar.  —  Privateers  :  chased  by  one  :  anec- 
dotes of  Mr.  B's  love  of  study  shown  then.  —  Hears  news 
of  the  death  of  his  wife :  consoles  himself  with  mathe- 
matical studies.  —  More  troubles  with  privateers.  — 
Leaves  Alicant.  —  Advantages  derived  from  his  visit  to 
Spain.  —  Fourth  voyage  ;  to  India.  —  Extracts  from 
Journal  on  viewing  a  ship  that  was  engaged  in  the  slave- 
trade.  —  Arrival  at  Java  :  introduction  to  the  Governor  : 
respect  formerly  paid  to  him.  —  Anecdote  of  English 
Navy  Officers.  —  Goes  to  Batavia  and  Manilla.  —  Obser- 
vations of  Jupiter  while  becalmed  near  the  Celebean 
Islands.  —  Voyage  home. 


During  these  two  voyages,  Mr.  Bowditch 
had  been  engaged  in  trade  for  himself,  and  hav- 
ing thereby  gained  a  small  fortune,  he  wished 
to  remain  at  home,  and  enjoy  the  blessings  of 
domestic  life,  from  which  he  had  been  separated 
at  the  age  of  ten  years,  when  he  left  the  abode 
of  his  parents.  In  accordance  with  this  wish, 
on  the  twenty-fifth  day  of  Mar^^H,  1798,  he 
married  a  very  excellent  and  intelligent  woman, 
named   Elizabeth   Boardman.     But   in  a  few 


NATHANIEL   BOWDITCH.  47 

months,  he  was  again  called  to  a  seafaring  life. 
His  young  and  beautiful  wife  was  already  be- 
ginning to  show  symptoms  of  that  disease  which 
eventually  removed  her  from  her  husband  and 
friends.  It  was  a  hard  struggle  for  the  ten- 
derly attached  couple  to  separate  themselves  ; 
but  duty  called  the  husband,  and  obedience  to 
duty  was  always  his  watchword.  Accordingly, 
by  August  15th,  1793,  he  was  prepared  for  sea, 
in  the  same  ship,  with  the  same  owner,  Captain 
Derby,  and  his  friend  Captain  Prince.  On  this 
occasion  he  went  as  joint  supercargo.  It  was  on 
the  twenty-first  of  August ;  nearly  five  months 
from  the  date  of  his  marriage  ;  that  he  bade 
adieu  to  his  wife.  He  never  saw  her  more. 
Full  of  devotedness  to  him,  she  however  urged 
him  to  go  forward  in  the  performance  of  the 
right,  unconscious  that  she  should  never  more 
embrace  him.  During  his  absence  she  died,  at 
the  early  age  of  eighteen  years. 

One  of  the  objects  of  the  present  voyage  was, 
to  go  to  Cadiz,  the  chief  southern  port  in  Spain. 
It  was  rather  dangerous,  at  this  time,  for  any 
vessel  to  sail  towards  Europe,  as  the  Revolution 
in  France  had  taken  place  only  a  short  time 
before,  and  Europe  was  beginning  to  rise  against 


4-8  MEMOIR    OF 

that  country  ;  and  as  Spain,  at  that  period,  was 
united  with  France,  an  English  fleet  was  hover- 
ing about  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar.  The  conse- 
quence was,  that  it  was  of  great  importance  to 
avoid  all  vessels,  for  fear  of  meeting  a  privateer. 

On  the  nineteenth  of  September,  after  nearly 
a  month's  voyage,  they  came  within  sight  of  the 
shores  of  Spain ;  and  at  seven,  A.  M.,  the  next 
day,  they  discovered  the  English  fleet,  under 
command  of  Earl  St.  Vincent,  several  leagues 
to  the  eastward  of  them.  On  this  same  day 
they  were  boarded  by  the  captain  of  an  Ameri- 
can vessel,  who  informed  them  that  the  priva- 
teers were  very  numerous  in  the  Straits. 

By  Mr.  Bowditch's  Journal,  we  learn  the 
following  : 

''  On  Thursday  afternoon,  twentieth  of  Sep- 
tember, the  winds  continued  light  and  variable 
to  the  w^estward.  Captain  Prince  steered  di- 
rectly for  Earl  St.  Vincent's  fleet,  and  at  tw^o, 
P.  M.,  the  Hector,  of  seventy-four  guns,  Capt. 
Camel,  sent  his  lieutenant  on  board,  ordering 
us  to  bear  down  to  him.  Captain  Prince  went 
aboard,  was  treated  politely,  and  received  a 
passport  to  enter  Cadiz."  On  the  twenty-first, 
at  four,  P.  M.,  anchor  was  cast  in  that  harbor. 


NATHANIEL    BOWDIXrH  49 

The  state  m  which  y.oor  Spain  was,  at  this 
time,  was  miserable  enough,  lliere  was  but 
one  newspaper  in  the  yhole  V'jj^dom,  and  that 
was  printed  at  Madrid.  Every  thing  was  de- 
graded about  that  once  noble  and  brave-hearted 
people.  Upon  the  appeaia*^  e  of  Cadiz,  the 
Journal  says  thur.  .  '  Tiie  streeis  of  the  city, 
although  narrow,  are  very  neatly  paved,  and 
swept  every  day,  so  that  they  are  very  clean. 
They  have  broad,  flat  stone?  at  the  sides.  All 
the  houses  are  of  store,  with  roofs  but  little 
sloping.  There  are  fortifications  all  around  the 
city." 

"  September  29th,  1798.  This  day,  news 
came  of  the  destruction  of  the  French  fleet,  in 
the  Mediterranean  Sea,  by  Lord  Nelson."  Of 
this  event  you  will  read  in  history,  at  some 
future  time  ;  but  it  was  deemed  very  important 
at  that  time  by  the  whole  world.  It  w^as  one 
of  the  most  formidable  checl  s  received  by  the 
French,  after  they  had  begun  to    verrun  Europe. 

This  news,  of  course,  was  dei  ^^ly  interest- 
ing to  our  voyager  ;  but,  although  excited  by 
the  political  and  military  contests  of  the  duy,  he 
did  not  forget  the  subject  to  which  from  earliest 
years  he  had  devoted  himself.  You  will  per- 
4 


60  MEMOIR   OF 

ceive,  from  the  following  extracts  from  his  Jour- 
nal, that  he  now  was  studying  astronomy.  In 
fact,  he  had  been  reading,  during  his  previous 
voyages,  many  of  the  greatest  works  on  mathe- 
matics and  astronomy. 

*^  November  12th.  During  our  residence  in 
Cadiz  we  formed  an  acquaintance  with  Count 
Mallevante,  who,  before  the  Revolution,  com- 
manded a  French  frigate  at  Martinico,  and  at 
present  is  a  post-captain  in  the  Spanish  navy. 
He  carried  us  to  the  New  Observatory,  built  on 
the  island  of  Cadiz,  where  we  were  shown  all 
the  instruments  they  had  mounted.  There  were 
not  any  of  them  very  new.  The  person  who 
went  with  us  was  named  Cosmo  de  Churruca. 
I  promised  to  send  him,  on  my  arrival  in  Amer- 
ica, the  works  of  Dr.  Holyoke,  on  Meteorology. 
I  gave  him  my  method  of  working  a  lunar  obser- 
vation, which  he  was  to  print  at  the  end  of  the 
Nautical  Almanac." 

"  At  half  past  four,  P.  M.,  got  under  way, 
and  beat  out  of  the  harbor  of  Cadiz,  in  com- 
pany with  three  other  American  vessels  ;  which 
sailed  under  the  protection  of  the  Astrea." 
They  were  destined  for  Alicant,  and  conse- 
quently their  course  lay  through  the  Straits  of 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCH.  51 

Gibraltar,  up  along  the  south-eastern  coast  of 
Spain.  On  the  afternoon  of  the  fourteenth,  they 
fell  in  again  with  the  English  fleet,  which,  with 
those  under  their  convoy,  consisted  of  forty-five 
vessels.  As  the  fleet  was  steering  in  the  same 
direction,  they  kept  company  with  it,  being  all 
bound  for  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar.  On  next  day, 
saw  another  convoy,  of  twenty  vessels,  and  two 
of  those  accompanying  the  Astrea  joined  it. 
The  Astrea  was  obliged  to  fall  behind,  because 
the  remaining  vessel  under  its  protection  sailed 
too  slowly.  On  the  eighteenth,  the  whole  con- 
voy entered  the  Straits,  except  one,  which  was 
chased  by  French  privateers,  ten  of  which  could 
be  counted  in  full  view  ;  but,  on  the  approach 
of  the  Astrea,  the  enemy  retreated. 

The  moon  was  shining  brightly,  on  the  night 
of  the  nineteenth  of  November,  1799.  Many 
times  had  the  bell  broken  over  the  silent  sea 
from  the  ship's  deck,  telling  of  the  passing 
hours  ;  when,  suddenly,  the  crew  of  the  Astrea 
was  called  to  quarters,  for  a  suspicious  sail  was 
seen  bearing  down  towards  them.  The  cannon, 
of  which  nineteen  were  on  board,  were  all 
cleared  for  action,  and  every  man,  placed  at  his 
post,  watched  anxiously  as  the  privateer  came 


52  MEMOIR   OF 

rapidly  towards  them.  Captain  Prince  assigned 
to  Mr.  Bowditch  a  station  in  the  cabin,  through 
whcih  the  powder  was  to  be  passed  to  the  deck. 
When  all  on  deck  was  ready,  and  that  deep 
and  solemn  silence  which  always  pervades  every 
part  of  a  ship  that  is  just  approaching  the 
enemy,  was  beginning  to  creep  over  those  on 
board  the  Astrea,  the  Captain  stepped  for  a 
moment  into  the  cabin,  to  see  if  every  thing  was 
in  order,  and  ^^  there  sat  Mr.  Bowditch  at  the 
cabin  table,  with  his  slate  and  pencil  in  hand, 
and  with  the  cartridges  lying  by  his  side." 
Entirely  absorbed  with  his  problem,  he  forgot 
all  danger,  thus  showing  that  his  love  of  science, 
even  when  in  imminent  peril,  was  superior  to  all 
feelings  of  fear.  This  anecdote,  doubtless,  will 
amuse  you,  and  it  reminds  me  of  the  geometri- 
cian Archimedes,  who  lived  two  hundred  years 
before  Christ,  who,  as  some  of  you  may  know, 
was  slain  by  the  soldiers  of  the  Roman  General 
Marcellus,  when  they  sacked  the  city  of  Syra- 
cuse. Archimedes  had  labored  much  for  his 
countrymen,  during  the  siege,  but  finally  be- 
came so  engaged  in  his  studies,  that  he  was 
totally  ignorant  that  the  soldiers  had  taken  pos- 
session of  the  town,  until   they  attacked  and 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCH.  53 

killed  him.  Fortunately,  in  the  case  of  Mr. 
Bowditch,  no  evil  ensued.  Captain  Prince  him- 
self could  not  restrain  his  feelings,  but  burst  into 
a  loud  laugh,  and  asked  Mr.  Bowditch  whether 
he  could  make  his  will  at  that  moment,  to 
which  question  Mr.  B.  answered,  with  a  smile, 
in  the  affirmative.  Captain  Prince  adds,  *'  But 
on  all  occasions  of  danger,  he  manifested  great 
firmness,  and,  after  the  affair  of  the  privateer, 
(which,  by  the  by,  did  not  molest  us,)  he  re- 
quested to  be  stationed  at  one  of  the  guns,  which 
request  was  granted  him." 

In  this  way,  they  continued  cruising  along 
the  beautiful  Mediterranean,  but  perpetually  ex- 
posed to  danger.  Now,  they  come  within  sight 
of  the  high  lands  of  Malaga,  and  shortly  they 
fly  away  from  some  pirate  on  the  broad  sea. 
Now,  they  are  quietly  sailing  along  under  the 
warm  and  sunny  skies  of  an  Andalusian  climate  j 
and  again,  in  the  course  of  a  few  hours,  are 
driven  by  the  current  and  tempest  far  away,  to 
the  southwest.  Finally,  after  a  tedious  passage, 
the  ship  was  moored,  on  Friday  evening,  No- 
vember twenty-third,  in  the  harbor  of  Alicant. 
After  considerable  difficulty,  on  account  of  the 
city  authorities,  for  fear  of  disease  being  brought 


54  MEMOIR    0^ 

into  the  place,  by  the  crews  of  the  ships,  they 
were  at  lens^th  allowed  to  go  on  shore.  But 
melancholy  tidings  awaited  our  voyager.  By  a 
Salem  vessel  that  had  arrived  at  Cadiz,  news 
came  of  the  death  of  his  wife,  sometime  in  the 
preceding  October.  He  made  no  complaints 
however.  He  never  thought  it  right  to  com.- 
plain  of  the  trials  that  fell  upon  him,  but  he 
quietly  sought  to  interest  his  mind  in  his  favorite 
pursuit  of  astronomy.  He  always  did  so,  when- 
ever any  trouble  came  upon  him.  In  this  way 
he  consoled  himself,  and  was  not  a  burden  to 
others,  by  being  of  a  discontented  spirit. 

January  24th,  1799,  having  finished  loading 
their  ship  with  brandy,  they  would  have  sailed, 
had  not  the  wind  prevented.  On  February 
eleventh,  they  v/ere  still  detained  by  head-winds^ 
but  now,  to  their  discomfort,  they  saw  a  French 
privateer  cruising  off  in  the  bay  at  the  mouth  of 
the  harbor.  It  was  evidently  waiting  to  entrap 
some  one  of  the  American  vessels.  On  the 
next  day,  the  daring  of  the  privateer  comman- 
der arose  to  such  a  height,  that  he  rowed  in  his 
barge  all  around  the  American  fleet,  and  insult- 
ed some  of  the  people.  Towards  evening  of 
February    thirteenth,   Mr.  Bowditch   narrowly 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCH.  55 

escaped  serious  difficulty  with  them,  as  the  pri- 
vateer barge  and  the  American  boat,  coming 
from  shore,  came  in  contact ;  but  the  former  re- 
ceived the  most  damage,  and  Mr.  Bowditch  got 
safely  on  board  the  Astrea.  On  the  fourteenth, 
the  brigand  of  the  sea  departed,  and  his  ship 
was  soon  seen  gradually  losing  itself  in  the  dis- 
tance over  the  blue  Mediterranean. 

On  the  next  day,  the  convoy  sailed.  It  con- 
sisted of  five  vessels,  and,  by  twenty-four  hours 
of  favorable  breezes,  they  were  brought  within 
thirty  miles  of  the  coast  of  Barbary  ;  and,  after 
some  trouble,  in  consequence  of  being  obliged 
to  take  in  tow  those  of  the  convoy  which  sailed 
more  slowly,  the  "Astrea  was  fairly  out  from  the 
Straits  of  Gibraltar  by  February  twenty-fourth, 
that  is,  three  days  from  the  time  of  leaving 
Alicant. 

During  half  the  passage  home,  some  of  the 
convoy  were  in  company  with  them.  They 
had  rough  seas ;  but,  on  the  sixth  of  April,  at 
ten  o'clock  at  night,  Mr.  Bowditch  arrived  in 
Salem  habor,  having  been  absent  nearly  nine 
months. 

This  visit  to  Spain  was  of  service  to  him,  in 
many  respects.     He  there  obtained  many  books 


56  MKMOIR    OF 

on  astronomy  and  navigation,  and  some  cele- 
brated works  on  history,  all  of  which  he  studied 
with  care,  on  his  voyage  home.  He,  moreover, 
had  gained  some  knowledge  by  his  visit  to  the 
observatory. 

He  was  not  destined  to  remain  at  home  a  long 
while  ;  but  the  Astrea  having  been  sold  to  a 
merchant  in  Boston,  Mr.  Bowditch  sailed 
with  Captain  Prince  from  that  city,  on  the 
twenty-third  of  the  following  July,  bound  for 
India.  It  was  a  long,  and,  to  most  persons,  a 
tedious,  voyage  that  he  was  about  to  undertake; 
but  to  Mr.  Bowditch  it  was  the  means  of  im- 
provement. While  the  ship  was  sailing  quiet- 
ly along,  or  sinking  lazily  from  one  swell  of  the 
sea  to  another,  or  borne  towards  heaven  on  the 
most  violent  gale,  Mr.  Bowditch  was  still  labor- 
ing at  his  books.  During  this  voyage,  as  during 
the  preceding,  he  did  not  perform  much  duty, 
except  when  in  port ;  and  consequently,  on 
board  ship,  he  had  a  great  deal  of  time  to  be 
devoted  to  study.  And  he  worthily  filled  every 
moment  with  reading  and  intense  study,  to  im- 
prove himself  or  others.  Very  few  incidents 
worth  mentioning  occurred  during  the  voyage  ; 
hut,  on  the  fifteenth  of  September,  1799,  we 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCH.  67 

find  the  following  in  his  Journal :  "  The  ship,  in 
sight  yesterday,  soon  proved  to  be  an  Enghsh 
Guineaman.  As  we  came  up  with  him,  he  fired 
a  gun  to  leward,  which  we  returned.  As  we 
came  nearer,  he  fired  one  to  windward.  We 
returned  the  compliment,  and  nearly  hulled  him. 
When  within  hail,  he  ordered  our  boat  out, 
which  Captain  Prince  refused,  telling  him  to 
come  on  board,  if  he  wanted  any  thing.  Final- 
ly, he  requested  Captain  P.  to  haul  out  our  boat, 
as  his  w^as  caulking,  which  we  could  plainly  see. 
Mr.  Carlton  went  on  board  with  the  clearance, 
and  the  surgeon  came  aboard  of  us,  and,  after 
examining  our  papers  and  acting  in  a  manner 
becoming  a  Guineaman,  they  made  sail.'' 

In  order  to  understand  this  allusion  to  the 
Guineaman,  you  should  know,  that,  at  the  time 
we  are  reading  of,  the  greater  part  of  English 
merchants,  especially  those  of  Liverpool,  were 
engaged  in  the  horrid  traffic  called  the  Slave 
Trade.  Immense  numbers  of  vessels  were  an- 
nually sent  from  Liverpool,  and  other  places  in 
England,  for  the  sole  purpose  of  sailing  to  the 
Coast  of  Africa,  there  to  get  a  cargo  of  the  poor 
natives,  whom  they  carried  to  the  West-Indian 
Islands  and  America,  in  order  that  they  might 


58  MEMOIR    OF 

be  sold,  as  slaves,  into  perpetual  bondage.  Men, 
women,  and  children,  were  taken  indiscrimi- 
nately, and  crammed  together,  like  bales  of  cot- 
ton or  any  other  goods,  between  the  decks  of 
the  vessels.  You  may  imagine,  that  those  who 
could  engage  in  such  abominable  proceedings 
must  have  lost  all  the  feelings  of  humanity. 
They  were  used  to  blood  and  rapine;  hence 
you  can  understand  the  reason  why  Mr.  Bow- 
ditch  uses  the  term  of  reproach  that  he  does.  I 
thank  heaven,  and  1  feel  sure  that  you  will  agree 
with  me,  that,  by  the  efforts  of  devoted  men 
and  women  in  England  and  elsewhere,  that 
trade  has  been  formally  abolished  by  Great  Brit- 
ain ;  and  that  every  man  who  now  sets  his  foot 
on  British  soil  becomes  free.  We  will  hope 
that  the  same  beautiful  truth  may  ere  long  be 
proclaimed  through  our  country,  in  which,  as 
you  know,  there  are  now  three  millions  of  slaves. 
But,  to  return  to  the  Astrea. 

On  December  17th,  they  arrived  at  Bata- 
via,  the  chief  city  of  the  island  of  Java.  The 
following  will  give  you  some  idea  of  the  place 
and  persons  in  it. 

*'  Upon  our  first  arrival,  after  making  our  report 
to  the  customhouse,  we  proceeded  to  the  Saab- 


NATHANIEL   BOWDITCH. 


59 


andar,  who  introduced  us  to  the  Governor  and  the 
Governor-General,  who  is  Commander-in-chief^ 
and  formerly  lived  in  all  the  splendor  of  an 
Asiatic  monarch.  At  present,  the  outward 
marks  of  respect  are  far  less  than  they  were 
twenty  or  thirty  years  ago.  In  former  times, 
he  was  attended  by  his  guards,  preceded  by  two 
trumpeters.  Every  carriage  was  forced  to  stop, 
and  the  persons  within  obhged  to  dismount, 
under   the  penalty  of  one   hundred  ducatoons, 

(about  $167.)      Captain  refused  even 

to  stop  his  carriage,  and  forced  his  coachman  to 
drive  on.  The  officers  of  an  English  squadron, 
lying  at  Batavia,  in  order  to  show  their  con- 
tempt of  the  procession,  formed  a  party  similar 
to  that  attending  the  Governor,  only,  instead  of 
the  aids  with  their  staves,  one  of  the  officers 
bore  a  staff  with  a  cow's  horn  tipped  with  gold, 
and  another  an  empty  bottle.  The  rest  of  the 
officers  of  the  fleet  met  this  procession,  and 
made  their  respects  to  it,  as  the  natives  did  to 
the  Governor.  At  present,  all  these  practices 
are  brought  into  contempt,  so  that  none  now 
stop  for  any  officers  of  government." 

The  Astrea  remained  but  four  days  at  Bata- 
via, the  captain  finding  that  he  could  not  fill  his 


60  MEMOIR    OF 

vessel  with  coffee,  as  he  intended.  Consequent- 
ly, after  taking  a  fresh  supply  of  provisions  and 
of  water,  they  weighed  anchor,  and  bore  towards 
the  north,  with  the  intention  of  visiting  Manilla, 
as  on  his  second  voyage.  Traversing  the  Straits 
of  Macassar,  they  passed  slowly  up  through  the 
China  Sea,  and  anchored  in  Manilla  Bay  on 
the  fourteenth  of  February,  1800.  During  this 
passage,  we  find  Mr.  Bowditch  still  occupied 
in  the  study  of  science.  When  floating,  be- 
calmed among  the  islands,  amidst  the  quiet- 
ness of  night,  he  is  observing  the  appearance  of 
the  planet  Jupiter,  and  studying  the  motions  of 
its  beautiful  satellites.  Doubtless,  as  he  was 
thus  occupied,  he  thought  of  the  immense  power 
of  that  Being  who  first  placed  the  bright  planet 
in  its  place,  and  told  it  to  revolve  around  our 
sun,  while  its  own  little  satellites,  like  four 
moons,  were  to  keep  it  company,  silently  and 
grandly,  in  its  mysterious  course. 

After  remaining  at  Manilla  long  enough  to  get 
a  cargo,  the  ship  was  prepared  for  home.  On 
the  twenty-third  of  March,  it  sailed  ;  and,  dur- 
ing a  passage  of  six  months,  very  little  occurred 
to  interrupt  iMr.  Bowditch's  daily  labors.  It 
arrived  on  the  sixteenth  of  September,  1800. 
About  a    fortnight  before   this,  September  the 


NATHANIEL    BOWDTTCH.  61 

second,  a  ship  was  observed  to  windward,  which 
bore  down  upon  them.  By  the  captain,  they 
were  informed  of  the  melancholy  news  (as  Mr. 
B.  says  in  his  Journal)  ''  of  the  death  of  our 
beloved  Washington.  Thus,"  continues  he, 
''  has  finished  the  career  of  that  illustrious  man, 
that  great  general,  that  consummate  statesman, 
that  elegant  waiter,  that  real  patriot,  that  friend 
to  his  country  and  to  all  mankind  !  "  This  char- 
acter of  Washington  is  true  ;  but  there  is  one 
point  to  which  Mr.  B.  makes  no  allusion,  —  the 
love  of  truth  displayed  by  that  good  man,  from 
his  earliest  years.  It  was  a  character  which  Mr. 
B.  must  have  loved,  even  if  he  had  not  been  a 
great  statesman  and  patriot ;  for  Washington 
was  a  just  man  ;  and  goodness  and  love  of 
truth  were  always  of  much  more  importance,  in 
Mr.  B.'s  opinion,  than  any  greatness. 

During  these  different  voyages,  he  gained 
more  property.  Having  obtained,  likewise, 
what  w^as  much  better,  a  good  report  among  his 
fellow-citizens,  as  a  man  of  great  learning,  per- 
severance, extraordinary  skill  in  the  transaction 
of  business,  and  unyielding  uprightness,  he  de- 
termined to  remain  at  home,  and  he  therefore 
bade  farewell  to  the  sailor's  life,  as  he  supposed, 
forever. 


62  MEMOIR   OF 


CHAPTER   VI. 


[From  1800  to  1803,  —  aged  27  —30.] 

Second  marriage  :  character  of  his  wife.  — Mr.  B.  engages 
in  commerce,  for  two  years.  —  School  committee.  — 
East-India  Marine  Society  :  a  description  of  the  annual 
meeting  of  this  society.  —  Mr.  B.  becomes  part  owner  of 
ship  Putnam,  and  sails  for  India.  —  Anecdote,  occur- 
rence a  few  days  after  leaving  Salem.  —  Studies  during 
the  long  voyage.  —  Begins  to  study  and  make  notes  upon 
La  Place's  "  Mecanique  Celeste." — Arrival  off  Sumatra : 
difficulties  there.  —  Boarded  by  English  man-of-war. — 
Revisits  Isle  of  France.  —  Journal  extracts  about  modes 
of  procuring  pepper:  seasons  for  it,  &c. —  Incident  on 
approaching  Salem  harbor.  —  Decision  of  Mr.  B. 


On  the  twenty-eighth  of  October,  1800, 
Mr.  Bowditch  married  his  cousin,  Mary  Inger- 
soll.  She  was  destined  to  Hve  with  him  thirty- 
five  years,  and  was  the  source  of  much  of  his 
happiness  in  hfe.  She  was  a  person,  in  some 
respects,  as  remarkable  as  her  husband.  She 
was  possessed  of  an  extraordinary  good  judg- 
ment, unwearying  kindness  and  love,  an  elastic 
cheerfulness,  which  scarcely  any  thing  could 
subdue,  and  very  strong  religious  feelings.  She 
was  constantly  trying  to  aid  him.  Instead  of 
seeking  for  enjoyment  in  display,  she  preferred 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCH.  63 

economical  retirement  and   great  but  respect- 
able frugality,  in  order  that  her  husband   might 
pursue   more  thoroughly  and  easily  his  favorite 
studies,  and  might  purchase  books  of  science. 
Instead   of  collecting    beautiful    furniture,    she 
called  her  visitors  to  see  the  rich  new  works  of 
learning,  that  her  husband  had  imported  from 
foreign  lands.     Yet,  with  all  this  devoted  love, 
with  all   this  intense  reverence  for  his  talents 
and  virtues,  she  remained  his   true   friend,  and 
never  shrunk    from  fully  expressing  her   own 
opinion  upon  every  matter  of  duty  ;  and  if,  per- 
chance, she  differed   from  him,  she  maintained 
her  side  of  the  question  with  the  zeal  of  a  true 
saint.     It  has  been  often  said,  that,  had   Mr. 
Bowditch  been  united  with  a  woman  of  a  differ- 
ent temperament,  he  would  have   been  an  en- 
tirely different  person.     He  loved  study,  it  was 
true  ;  but  none  enjoyed  more  than  he  the  de- 
lights of  a  family  circle.     None   needed  more 
than  he  did  the  kindness  of  a  wife  and  children. 
She  lived  with   him  thirty-four  years,  and  on 
the  seventeenth  day  of  April,   1834,  she  sunk 
under    the    disease,  consumption,   with   which 
she  had  been,  suffering  for  a  long  time. 


64  MEMOIR   OF 

But  I  am  anticipating  n)}"  story.  For  two 
years  after  his  arrival  from  his  last  voyage,  Mr. 
Bowditch  remained  at  home,  and  engaged  as  a 
merchant  in  commerce.  We  find  him  generally 
in  connection  with  his  old  friend,  Capt.  Prince, 
trying  his  fortunes  by  adventures  of  money  sent 
to  different  parts  of  the  world.  He  seems  to 
have  had  no  intention  of  ever  again  returning  to 
sea.  July  fourteenth,  1802,  he  owned  one- 
sixth  of  a  small  schooner  and  its  cargo,  valued 
at  nine  hundred  and  eleven  dollars.  During 
this  long  residence  in  town,  his  fame  had  in- 
creased. He  had  become  known  among  his 
fellow-citizens  as  an  ^'  able  mathematician."  * 
He  was  therefore  appointed  to  offices  of  honor 
and  trust.  He  was  a  member  of  the  school- 
committee  of  the  town.  This  boy,  who  had 
been  obliged  to  leave  school  at  the  age  of  ten 
years  and  three  months,  was  now  one  to  teach 
others.  He  was  Secretary  of  the  East- India 
Marine  Society  of  Salem.  This  society  has 
now  one  of  the  most  interesting  collections  of 
East-Indian  curiosities  that  can  be  found  in 
America.     The    association    was   composed  of 

*  From  the  Manuscript  Journal  of  a  gentleman  in  Salem, 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCH.  65 

the  most  influential  men  in  the  town  of  Salem. 
No  one  could  be  enrolled  among  their  number 
unless  he  had  sailed  as  captain  or  supercargo  of 
a  vessel  around  either  Cape  Horn  or  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope.     It  was  intended  as  a  benevo- 
lent society,  for  the  relief  of  the  famihes  of  de- 
ceased members  ;  and  also  for  the  promotion  of 
the  art  of  navigation.     Mr.  Bowditch  was  one 
of  its  active  members.    In  the  early  part  of  this 
century,  the  society  was  accustomed,  on  its  days 
of  annual  meeting,  to  have  a  public  procession. 
A  description  of  one  of  these  processions  may 
not  be  uninteresting  to  you.     I  quote  the  words 
of  an  eye-witness  of  a  celebration  that  occurred 
two  years  later  than  the  period  of  which  1  am 
speaking,   but  the  date  is  unimportant,  as  the 
ceremony  was  the  same.     "  January  4th,  1804. 
This  day  was  the  annual  meeting  of  the   East- 
India  Marine  Society.     As  the  clergy  attend  in 
turn,  this  occasion  afforded  me  an  opportunity 
to  enjoy  the  day  with   them.     After  business, 
but  before  dinner,  they  moved  in  procession  ; 
but  the  ice  limited  the  distance.     Each  of  the 
brethren  bore  some  Indian  curiosity,   and   the 
palanquin  was  borne  by  negroes  dressed  nearly 
in   the  Indian  manner.     A   person   dressed  in 
5 


66  MEMOIR   0^ 

Chinese  habits,  and  masked,  passed  in  front. 
The  crowd  of  spectators  was  great.  Several 
gentlemen  were  invited  to  dine.  Instrumental 
music  was  provided  in  the  town,  for  the  first 
time,  and  consisted  of  a  bass-drum,  bassoon, 
clarionet,  and  flute,  and  was  very  acceptable. 
There  was  no  singing."  ^  ^  *  ^'  It  is  a 
most  happy  arrangement,"  continues  this  writer, 
*^  to  deliver  all  the  papers  of  this  company  into 
the  hands  of  Mr.  Nathaniel  Bowditch,  lately 
returned  from  his  voyage  to  India,  that  they 
may  be  prepared  for  public  inspection." 

In  July,  1802,  Mr.  Bowditch  bought  a  part 
of  a  small  vessel  engaged  in  a  sealing  voyage  ; 
but  he  lost  by  this  adventure,  half  of  his  invest- 
ment. In  September,  of  the  same  year,  he, 
with  three  others,  bought  the  new  ship  Putnam, 
built  a  short  time  previously,  at  Danvers  ;  and, 
on  the  twenty -first  of  November,  he  sailed  as 
master,  and  owner  of  one  small  part  of  the  whole 
ship  and  cargo,  valued  at  fifty-six  thousand  dol- 
lars. Though  he  went  in  the  capacity  of  cap- 
tain, he  was  determined  to  do  nothing  more  than 
direct  the  course  of  the  ship  ;  and  leave  to  the 
officers  under  him  all  the  labor  usually  expected 
of  commanders.     He  made  an  agreement  with 


NATHANIEL   BOWDITCH.  fiT 

two  skilful  individuals,  to  take  upon  themselves 
these  duties.  He  did  so,  in  order  that  he  might 
be  enabled  to  pursue  his  studies  more  carefully, 
and  without  that  interruption  that  must  inevit- 
ably have  occurred,  had  he  been  obliged  to 
watch  every  favorable  breeze,  or  the  first  appear-* 
ances  of  the  gathering  hurricane.  But,  as  we 
shall  see,  whenever  real  danger  called  him  to 
duty,  he  then  stood  firm,  and  gave  his  com- 
mands like  one  who  was  satisfied  that  the  time 
required  earnestness.  A  few  days  after  leaving 
the  port  of  Beverly,  he  was  seen  walking  '^  fore 
and  aft  "  the  vessel,  with  very  hurried  steps,  and 
deeply  absorbed,  apparently,  in  the  solution  of 
some  problem.  The  wind  had  been  blowing 
freshly,  for  some  time  ;  and,  whilst  he  was  med* 
itating,  and  forgetful  of  every  thing  except  the 
problem,  the  mate  of  the  vessel  had  been  hoping 
that  he  would  see  the  severe  squall  which  was 
coming  upon  the  vessel  and  was,  even  then, 
skimming  fiercely  over  the  troubled  water.  He 
feared  to  suggest  to  him  the  importance  of 
taking  in  some  of  the  sails,  because  the  disci- 
pline on  board  ship  prevents  an  inferior  ofiicer 
fi-om  interfering  with  the  superior,  when  the  lat- 
ter is  on  decki     At  length,  aroused  by  the  dan- 


68  MEMOIR   OF 

ger  of  the  vessel,  he  ventured  the  remark, 
"  Captain,  would  it  not  be  better  to  take  in  the 
topgallant  sails  ? ''  These  words  aroused  Mr. 
Bowditch  from  his  reverie,  and  he  instantly  or- 
dered all  hands  to  duty  ;  and  fortunately,  by  his 
activity  and  energy,  was  enabled  to  furl  the 
extra  sail  before  the  gust  struck  the  vessel.  But 
this  event  taught  Mr.  B.  a  lesson  ;  and  he  gave 
strict  orders  to  the  two  officers  mentioned  above, 
to  waive  all  ceremony  with  him,  and  to  take 
the  command  of  the  ship,  whether  he  was  on 
deck  or  not.  This  rule  was  always  observed, 
except  on  difficult  occasions ;  and  then  Mr. 
Bowditch  assumed  the  authority  of  commanding 
officer  ;  and  always,  by  his  calmness  and  sagac- 
ity, gained  the  respect  and  confidence  of  those 
in  employment  under  him.  Before  the  termi- 
nation of  this  voyage,  we  shall  see  a  strong  ex- 
ample of  this.  But  now  let  us  proceed  on  our 
expedition  with  him,  and,  again  cross  the  Atlan- 
tic, pass  around  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  to  the 
islands  of  the  Indian  Ocean.  But  I  should  pre- 
mise, that,  as  he  had  become  more  acquainted 
with  various  mathematical  and  philosophical  pur- 
suits, he  had  imported  from  Europe  most  of  the 
great  works  on  these  subjects,  and  he  now  was 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCH. 


prepared  to  devote  himself  more  closely  than  ever 
to  the  darling  object  of  his  life,  the  attainment 
of  a  knowledge  in  the  truths  of  science.  He  was 
determinedj  on  this  voyage,  to  undertake  the 
investigation  and  thorough  study  of  one  work 
on  the  heavens,  a  book  which  he  had  understood 
was  above  any  thing  ever  before  written  by 
man,  on  that  subject.  Imagine,  if  you  can,  the 
zeal  and  beautiful  elevation  of  feeling  with 
which  he  must  have  approached  this  book  upon 
a  subject  that  had  interested  him  from  earliest 
years.  Doubtless,  he  thought  not,  then,  of  the 
fame  he  was  to  gain  from  it.  The  name  of  it 
you  will  like  to  know.  I  shall  speak  of  it 
again  ;  but,  meanwhile,  I  will  merely  mention 
that  it  was  called,  ^^  A  Treatise  on  the  Mechan- 
ism of  the  Heavens," — (Mecanique  Celeste,) 
and  was  written  in  French,  by  a  mathematician 
named  La  Place,  the  greatest  scientific  man, 
after  Newton,  of  modern  times.  But  this  was 
not  the  only  work  Mr.  Bowditch  took  with  him. 
He  had  all  the  most  important  works  which  had 
been  published  on  the  same  subject,  they  hav- 
ing been  imported  for  him  by  a  bookseller, 
named  Blunt,  in  payment  of  services  rendered. 


70  MEMOIR   OF 

These  various  studies  of  course  influenced  his 
Journal.  He  doubtless  was  an  observer  of  pass- 
ing events  ;  but  he  recorded  less  of  them  than  on 
the  preceding  voyages. 

By  the  first  record,  it  appears,  that  on 
'^Sunday,  November  twenty-first,  1802,  at  one 
o'clock,  P/M.,  sailed  from  Captain  Hill's  wharf, 
in  Beverly.  At  two,  passed  Baker's  Island 
lights,  with  fine  and  pleasant  breeze."  This 
fair  weather  lasted  but  a  few  days,  and  by  far 
the  greater  part  of  the  voyage  was  uncomforta- 
ble, in  consequence  of  the  prevalence  of  rain 
and  wind.  On  January  twenty-fifth,  1803,  he 
saw  the  islands  of  Tristan  d'Acunha ;  and, 
whilst  coursing  along  under  easy  sail,  took  sev- 
eral observations  of  them,  and  made  a  chart  of 
their  various  positions. 

On  the  second  of  May,  he  arrived  among  the 
Pepper  Islands,  near  the  coast  of  Sumatra.  He 
found  several  American  captains  there,  all  ac- 
tively engaged  in  loading  their  vessels  with  pep- 
per. He  had  considerable  difficulty  in  making 
any  arrangement  with  the  Rajahs  of  different 
places  ;  but  at  length,  having  touched  without 
success  at  several  ports,  he  began  to  load  at 
Tally-poo,  on  the   ninth  of  May.     There  he 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCH.  71 

continued  until  the  eighteenth  of  July,  when, 
by  his  Journal,  it  appears  that,  having  wasted  a 
number  of  days,  expecting  that  more  pepper 
would  be  brought  to  the  shore,  he  was  informed 
by  the  Rajah  he  would  not  be  allowed  any 
more.  Knowing  that  he  should  meet  with 
equal  trouble  at  every  place  on  the  coast,  he 
concluded  to  quit  it,  and  call  at  the  Isle  of 
France,  on  his  homeward  passage.  During 
their  voyage,  amid  the  various  shoals  and  islands 
which  abound  here,  they  met  with  no  inconve- 
nience and  no  interruption,  save  that  they  an- 
chored once  or  twice,  toward  night,  and,  on  the 
twenty-fifth  of  July,  were  obliged  to  heave  to, 
under  the  fire  of  two  English  ships  of  war,  one 
named  the  Royal  George,  the  commander  of 
which  took  the  liberty  of  searching,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  seeing  whether  there  were  any  English- 
men on  board.  The  officer,  however,  was  very 
polite,  and  the  Putnam  soon  resumed  its  course  ; 
and,  in  seventy-two  hours  more,  was  on  the  open 
sea,  under  full  sail,  with  the  aid  of  the  steady 
trade-winds  of  that  place  and  season.  On  the 
twenty -fourth  of  August,  the  voyager  was  in 
sight  of  the  Isle  of  France.  He  there  met 
his   old    friend   Bonnefoy,  whom  he  had   left 


72  MEMOIR  OF 

there  on  his  first  voyas^e  m  1795.  and  like- 
wise many  American  friends.  After  purchasing 
some  bags  of  pepper,  and  taking  on  board  some 
proTisions,  which  employed  his  time  for  low:  cays, 
he  sailed  for  the  last  time,  from  anv  ort, 

on  Wednesday,  August  Slst,  1803.  1  ne  voyage 
homeward  was  very  disagreeable,  in  consequence 
of  much  severe  weather.  Nothing  remarkable 
happened  to  enliven  the  scene  ;  but  Air.  Bow- 
ditch  disregarded  the  storms  i  v  v^;;  ;  his 
mind  was  calm  and  tranquil.  ily 

occupied  with  his  "  peaceful  matiiemaiic  s .  '  He 
wrote  in  his  Journal  but  sek-  ^  T  hre  is. 
however,  the  following  accour  P  pper 

Islands.  ^^  There  are  several  native  ports  on 
the  northwestern  coast  of  S-:  r:^::^    ^  ^^q 

Americans  ti*ade  for  pepp-r .  —  A  -  oso, 

Tangar,  Tally- Poo,  Muckie.  kc.  :  and  several 
sm^.llr-  :  /^.  !-  _'  "':  \  :^  ^  .  ""  f  the 
coa-:.   '  '    ^  _    _      _-  -.you 

contract  with  the  D  .  . .  and  fix 

the  price.     I:' 

port,  the  per  .  -:  - 

is  shared  betwcr:.  "  rv  r::i  ^_:ee;  or 

they  'a"-:-  i:  day  by  day,  al:ei..-;:v'y.    >^ 
the  Daico  contracts  to  load   oi^e  vcs-c.  ._:'.. j 


NATHANIEL   BOWDITCH.  73 

any  other  one  takes  any^  and  he  holds  to  his 
agreement,  a5  long  as  he  finds  it  for  his  inter- 
est, and  no  longer ;  for  a  handsome  present,  or 
an  increase  in  the  price,  will  prevent  any  more 
pepper  from  being  brought  in  for  several  days ; 
and  the  person  who  has  made  the  agreement 
must  either  quit  the  port,  or  offer  an  additional 
price. 

*^  The  pepper  season  commences  in  January, 
when  they  begin  to  take  from  the  vines  the  small 
kernels  at  the  bottom.  In  March,  April,  and 
May,  is  the  height  of  the  crop,  at  which  time 
the  pepper  taken  from  the  top  of  the  vines  is 
larger  and  more  solid  than  that  gathered  at  an 
earlier  period ;  many  suppose  that  the  pepper  is 
all  gathered  in  May  ;  but  I  was  in  some  of  the 
gardens  in  July,  and  found  at  the  top  of  the  vines 
large  quantities,  which  would  be  ripe  in  a  few 
days.  The  young  crop  was  in  considerable  for- 
wardness at  the  bottom  of  the  vines.  Some 
calculate  on  two  crops  ;  but,  from  the  best  infor- 
mation I  could  procure,  there  is  only  one. 

^^  The  pepper  is  generally  weighed  with 
American  scales  and  weights,  one  hundred  and 
thirty-three  and  a  third  pounds  to  a  pecciil. 
What  is  weighed  each  day  is  paid  for  in  the 


74  MEMOIR   OF 

evening ;  they  (the  natives)  not  being  willing  to 
tr«st  their  property  in  the  hands  of  those  they 
deal  with.  And  they  ought  to  be  dealt  with  in 
the  same  manner ;  it  not  being  prudent  to  pay 
in  advance  to  the  Datoo,  as  it  would  be  often 
difficult  to  get  either  the  pepper  or  the  money 
again  from  him.  Spanish  dollars  are  the  current 
coin,  but  they  do  not  take  halves  or  quarters. 
They  have  a  pang,  or  piece,  of  which  we  could 
get  but  eighty  for  a  dollar  at  Tally-Poo,  though 
at  other  places  they  give  one  hundred  or  one 
hundred  and  twenty  for  the  same." 

During  the  whole  voyage,  as  I  have  already 
stated,  the  weather  had  been  very  uncomfortable, 
The  approach  to  the  American  coast  is  at  all 
times  hazardous,  during  the  winter.  The  bold 
and  rough  shore,  the  intense  cold  and  severe 
snow-storms,  which  make  the  day  shorter  even 
than  common,  are  so  many  terrors  for  the  sailor. 
You  may  judge  of  the  sadness  of  the  crew  of 
the  Putnam,  when,  after  a  tedious  absence  of 
more  than  a  year,  they  at  length,  towards  the 
middle  of  December,  1803,  came  near  the  shoal 
grounds  off  Massachusetts,  by  Nantucket.  The 
sleet  and  rain  had  been  driving  over  tlie  ocean 
wave  for  many  days.    No  sun  appeared  to  guide 


NATHANIEL    EOWDITCH.  75 

them  by  day  ;  no  star  illuminated  the  night. 
Groping,  as  it  were,  in  darkness,  they  coasted 
along  up  the  shore,  yet  not  within  sight  of  it, 
now  throwing  their  sounding  line  upon  Nan- 
tucket, and  soon  afterwards  upon  George's 
Shoal.  There  seemed  no  end  to  the  storm. 
At  length,  on  the  twenty-fifth  of  December, 
they  had  approached,  according  to  Mr.  Bow- 
ditch's  reckoning,  from  observation  made  two 
days  before,  near  to  the  outer  part  of  Salem 
harbor.  The  night  was  fast  closing  in.  Mr. 
Bowditch  was  observed  to  be  on  deck,  anxious- 
ly looking  towards  the  bow  of  the  vessel,  as  if 
in  order  to  see  something  that  would  cheer  the 
scene.  With  clear,  decided  tones,  he  gave  his 
orders.  The  seamen  saw,  and  obeyed  in  silence. 
^*  There  is  something  in  the  wind,"  whispered 
one  ;  *'  the  old  man^  is  above."  '^  Stand  every 
man  at  his  post,"  is  the  command  ;  ''  and  look 
out  for  land  ahead."  The  fierce  gusts  of  wind 
swept  over  Massachusetts  Bay,  bearing  the  ves- 
sel irresistibly  onwards ;  the  snow-storm  increas- 
ed, and  at  every  moment  the  darkness  increased. 
At  length,  for  one  moment,  the  clouds  of  drifting 

*  An  expression,  of  which  sailors  make  use,  when  speak- 
ing of  the  captain  of  the  vessel. 


76  MEMOIR   OF 

snow-flakes  parted,  and  Mr.  Bowditch,  with  his 
mate,  who  were  watching,  saw  distinctly  the 
light  of  Baker's  Island.  ''  Light,  ho !  on  the 
larboard  bow,"  was  passed  from  one  to  the  other, 
on  board  that  ship,  in  which  were  many  almost 
breathless  with  suspense.  It  was  but  for  a  mo- 
ment, and  again  all  was  obscured.  ^'  I  am 
right,"  said  Mr.  B.  ;  ^'  the  direction  in  which 
we  are  now  steering  will  lead  us  soon  into  Salem 
Harbor."  His  prediction  was  fulfilled.  It  was 
an  extraordinary  proof  of  his  skill  in  navigation. 
He  had  had  no  opportunity  for  observing  the  sun 
or  moon  for  two  or  three  days,  yet,  so  accurately 
had  he  marked  bis  position  in  the  ocean,  at  the  last 
time  of  observing,  that,  by  steering  in  the  direction 
pointed  out  by  the  chart,  and  observing  the  rate 
at  which  the  vessel  moved,  he  was  able  to  calcu- 
late so  exactly,  that,  after  seventy-two  hours  of 
darkness,  as  it  were,  he  came  up  to  the  light  as 
easily  as  if  he  had  been  steering  always  in  open 
day,  with  the  object  distinctly  in  view.  The 
old  tars  could  not  restrain  their  expressions  of 
admiration  ;  and  as,  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  eve- 
ning, they  dropped  anchor  in  safety  from  the 
gale  that  was  now  beating  with  ten-fold  violence 
outside  of  the  island,  they  whispered  with  one 
another,  so  that  he  overheard  them,  **The  old 


NATHANIEL   BOWDITCH.  77 

man  has  clone  well,  to-night."  It  was  the 
twenty-fifth  of  December,  and,  throughout 
Christendom,  the  festival  in  commemoration  of 
the  birth  of  the  Saviour  had  been  celebrated, 
and  friends  had  all  been  gathered.  Sadness 
marked  their  countenances  at  one  home,  from 
which  the  husband  and  friend  was  absent,  and 
had  been  long  expected.  As  the  blasts  beat 
through  the  streets,  and  as  the  family  clustered 
around  the  bright  shining  fire  upon  the  hearth- 
stone ;  as  the  wind  whistled  through  the  case- 
ment, the  thoughts  of  the  wife  were  turned  from 
the  fireside  to  the  rough  ocean  on  which  her  hus- 
band was  tempest  tossed.  Many  weary  weeks 
had  she  watched  ;  but,  day  after  day,  had  the 
sun  gone  down,  and,  like  Rachel,  she  could  not 
be  comforted.  She  feared  that  he  was  lost. 
One  after  another  of  her  friends  had  left  her, 
late  at  night,  and,  finally,  she  was  alone.  Sud- 
denly, she  springs  up  from  her  seat,  aroused  by 
the  sound  of  quick  knocking  at  the  street  door. 
She  recognises  the  tap,  and  in  a  few  moments 
she  is  hanging  on  his  neck,  from  whom  she  was 
destined  never  to  be  long  separated,  until  death 
removed  her  from  him  for  four  years  ;  at  the  end 
of  which  time,  he  was  placed  by  death  in  quiet- 
ness at  her  side. 


78  MEMOIR   OF 


CHAPTER  Vll. 

Review  of  the  labors,  &c.,  performed  by  Mr.  Bowditch, 
during  these  voyages.  —  Habits  w^hile  at  sea  :  studies  : 
desire  to  teach  others:  kindness  to  sailors,  and  to  the 
sick.  —  Discovers  errors  in  a  book  on  Navigation. — 
Origin  of  "  American  Practical  Navigator  :  "  success  of 
it :  industry  of  I^Ir.  B.  upon  it.  —  Investigates  higher 
branches  of  sciehce  : — "  Mecanique  Celeste." — Mr. 
B.  reads  history.  —  Learns  Spanish,  French,  and  Portu- 
guese languages. — Anecdotes.  —  Chosen  member  of 
American  Academy.  —  Receives  honors  from  Harvard 
College. 

Thus  finished  Mr.  Bowditch's  career  as  a 
sailor,  having  been,  about  eight  years,  engaged 
in  this  pursuit.  But  let  us  now  review  a  little, 
and  see  what  he  was  doing,  during  these  voy- 
ages, and  how  he  occupied  his  time.  He  was 
very  regular  in  his  habits.  During  the  first  two 
voyages,  he  attended  to  the  duties  of  mate  of 
the  vessel,  and  stood  his  watches.  This,  of 
course,  prevented  him  from  studying  as  much 
as  he  otherwise  would  have  done.  He,  more- 
over, as  we  have  seen,  took  fewer  books  with 
him.  But,  during  the  next  two  voyages,  the 
Captain  excused  him  from  the  watches,  and  he 
was  able  to  read  without  the  smallest  interrup- 
tion.    After  the  deck  had  been  washed  in  the 


NATHANIEL   BOWDITCH.  79 

morning,  he  walked  for  half  an  hour ;  he  then 
went  into  the  cabin  to  study,  until  the  time 
arrived  at  which  he  was  to  observe  the  sun, 
which  is  done  in  order  to  tell  whereabouts  in 
the  ocean  a  vessel  is.  Having  finished  this,  he 
usually  dined.  After  this,  he  slept  a  few  mo- 
ments, or  took  a  walk,  and  then  studied  again 
until  tea-time.  After  supper,  he  was  again  at 
work  until  nine,  when  he  used  to  walk  for  some 
time,  cheerfully  talking  with  his  comrades.  Af- 
ter this,  he  usually  labored  until  late  at  night ; 
and,  in  order  not  to  disturb  his  fellow-passengers, 
he  did  not  keep  a  light  in  the  cabin,  but  fre- 
quently stood  upon  the  cabin  stairway,  reading 
by  the  light  of  the  binnacle  lamp,  where  the 
compass  was  kept.  Whenever  the  vessel  arriv- 
ed at  a  port,  he  was  still  engaged,  but  in  a  dif- 
ferent way,  perhaps.  The  instant  he  was  freed 
from  the  duties  of  weighing  pepper  on  the  coast 
of  Sumatra,  he  went  to  his  books*  No  time  was 
wasted,  either  in  foul  or  fair  weather.  It  made 
no  difference  to  him,  whether  the  ship  was  rest- 
ing motionless  upon  the  water,  or  tossing  upon 
the  heaviest  swell,  he  was  always  a  worker. 
But  there  was  yet  another  and  more  beautiful 
trait  still,  in  his  character.    He  not  merely  loved 


80  MEMOIR   OF 

study^  himself,  but  he  was  determined  to  per- 
suade  all  others  to  love  it^  also.     During  his 
first  voyage,  he  used  to  go  to  the  forecastle,  or 
sailor's  cabin,  and  carry  his  books  of  Navigation, 
and  teach  them  how  to  guide  a  ship  by  the  rules 
found  in  these  books.     He  then  went  on  deck, 
and  explained  to  each  one  the  method  of  using 
the  quadrant  and  sextant,  two  instruments  used 
by  a  sea-captain.     There  is   an   old  man  now 
living  in  Salem,  who,  when  speaking  of  this  dis- 
position of  Mr.  Bowditch,  said,    '^  1  was  the 
steward  on  board  the  vessel,  and  Mr.  Bowditch 
frequently  scolded  me,  because  I  did  not  come 
to  study  with  him  more  steadily."     It  is  a  fact, 
that  every  sailor  on  board  the  ship,  during  that 
voyage,  became  afterwards  captain,  and  probably 
some  of  them  would  never  have  risen  so  high, 
had  it  not  been  for  the  kindness  of  their  friend. 
I  love  to  think  of  this  trait  in  his  character.    He 
delighted  in  learning,  for  its  own  sake,  and  he 
was  always  pleased  when  he  could  find  some 
one  upon  whom  he  could  bestow  all  his  acquire- 
ments.    He  had  no  mean  standard  of  compari- 
son between  himself  and  his  fellows,  but  desired 
to  give  and  receive  as  much  good  as  it  was  pos- 
sible for  him  to  bestow  or  accept.* 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCH.  81 

He  was  beloved  for  this  by  all ;  but  his  kind- 
ness of  heart  led  him  not  merely  to  teach  those 
who  knew  less  than  he,  but  he  was  wont  to  seek 
them,  when  sick,  in  order  to  relieve  them.  One 
of  them,  who  lately  died,-  wrote  in  a  letter,  after 
alluding  to  his  willingness  to  teach  others,  '^  But 
the  kindness  and  attention  to  the  poor  sea-sick 
cabin-boy  are  to  this  day  (April,  1838,)  upper- 
most in  my  memory,  and  will  last,  when  his 
learning  is  remembered  no  more."  How  bright 
were  his  talents  and  love  of  study,  how  beauti- 
ful his  devotion  to  others'  comfort  and  improve- 
ment !  He  might  have  been  as  learned,  without 
displaying  this  regard  for  others.  But  he  would 
not  then  have  had  such  tributes  of  love,  as  was 
displayed  by  this  old  sailor,  who  remembered 
his  kindness  rather  than  his  instruction. 

But  let  us  examine  his  particular  studies,  pur- 
sued while  at  sea.  We  have  already  seen,  that, 
from  a  boy,  he  had  loved  simple  arithmetic,  and 
on  becoming  older,  had  studied  deeply  in  math- 
ematics, a  kind  of  learning  similar  in  character 
to  arithmetic,  only  much  more  difficult  and  im- 
portant. During  the  long  voyages  to  India,  he 
had  ample  opportunity  for  following  this  branch 
of  science  ;  consequently,  we  find  that  he  was 
6 


82  MEMOIR  OF 

chiefly  occupied  with  that  subject.  On  the 
first  voyage,  he  discovered  many  errors  in  a 
book  on  Navigation,  some  of  w  hlch  were  so  im- 
portant, that,  by  their  means,  not  a  few  vessels 
had  been  shipwrecked.  This  erroneous  work 
was  originally  published  in  London,  by  a  man 
named  Hamilton  Moore,  and  it  was  almost  ex- 
clusively used  by  seamen.  It  had  been  repub- 
lished in  America,  in  1793,  by  ^Ir.  Blunt,  then 
living  in  Newburyport.  One  edition  was  pub- 
lished, and  a  second  was  about  to  be  issued,  in 
1799,  when  Mr.  Blunt  learned,  by  means  of  a 
mutual  friend,  that  Mr.  Bowditch,  during  his 
two  first  voyages,  had  detected  many  of  these 
errors,  and  was  willing  to  inform  him  of  them. 
Mr.  Blunt  immediately  made  application  to  the 
young  navigator,  and  received  the  assistance  he 
wanted.  Finding  that  Mr.  Bowditch  had  with- 
in him  the  means  of  rendering  essential  service, 
Mr.  Blunt  proposed  to  him,  when  starting  on 
his  fourth  voyage,  that  is,  to  India,  to  exam^ine 
all  the  tables,  and  see  what  number  of  errors  he 
could  find.  Mr.  Bowditch  agreed  to  the  propo- 
sal ;  and,  during  this  voyage,  his  time  was  much 
occupied  with  this  task  ;  a  very  wearisome,  but, 
as  it  proved  eventually,  a  profitable  one,   as  it 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCH.  83 

regards  reputation  and  pecuniary  success.  The 
mistakes  were  so  numerous,  that  he  found  it 
much  easier  to  make  a  new  work,  and  introduce 
therein  his  own  improvements  ;  so  that  Mr.  B., 
before  the  termination  of  the  voyage,  decided 
to  make  some  arrangement  for  this  purpose. 
The  consequence  was,  that,  instead  of  pubhsh- 
ing  a  third  edition  of  Moore's  Navigator,  in  1802, 
the  first  edition  of  the  ^^  American  Practical 
Navigator"  was  pubhshed  by  Mr.  Bowditch, 
under  his  own  name,  Mr.  Blunt  being  proprie- 
tor. Thus  was  laid,  at  the  age  of  twenty-nine, 
the  foundation  of  a  work  on  navigation,  that  has 
kept  constantly  before  the  public,  as  one  of  the 
best  of  the  kind  either  in  America  or  England. 
It  passed  through  its  tenth  edition  a  short  time 
before  Mr.  Bowditch's  death.  Upwards  of 
thirty  thousand  copies  have  been  published 
since  its  commencement.  It  soon  superseded 
entirely  Mr.  Moore's,  and  was  early  republish- 
ed in  London.  And  it  was  not  only  obtained 
by  every  American  seaman,  but  even  English 
ships  sought  for  Bowditch's  Navigator,  as  their 
safety  during  their  long  voyages.  Many  amus- 
ing anecdotes  are  related,  in  reference  to  this 
book.     An  American  captain  once  took  passage 


84  MEMOIR    OF 

in  an  English  ship,  from  the  Isle  of  France,  for 
St.  Helena,  After  being  a  few  days  out,  the 
passenger,  about  noon,  brought  on  deck  his 
*^  Navigator"  (one  of  Bowditch's  editions)  for 
the  purpose  of  using  it.  While  thus  engaged, 
the  English  captain  of  the  vessel  walked  up,  and 
looked  at  the  work.  '^  Why,"  says  he,  "  you 
use  the  same  work  that  we  do.  Pray,  where 
did  you  get  that  ?  "  And  great  was  the  sur- 
prise of  the  Englishman,  when  he  learned  that 
the  author  of  the  book,  he  was  using  every  day 
of  his  life,  was  the  near  neighbor  and  friend  of 
the  person  he  was  talking  with.  Little  did  h^ 
imagine  that  he  was  dependent  upon  the  efforts 
of  a  simple  son  of  an  American  cooper,  for  the 
information  by  which  he  was  enabled  to  go  from 
sea  to  sea,  in  comparative  safety.  But  how  is 
it,  that  this  work  has  been  able  to  remain  so 
long  one  of  the  best  works  of  the  kind  ?  Because 
Mr.  Bowditch  bestowed  intense  pains  upon  it, 
and  with  every  new  edition  made  all  the  im- 
provements possible.  He  moreover  brought  all 
his  learning  to  bear  upon  it.  In  the  explana- 
tions of  the  rules,  he  was  simple,  so  that  the 
most  ignorant  could  understand  them.  But,  in 
addition  to  all  this,  as  we  have  already  stated, 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCH.  85 

he  introduced  all  the  new  methods  which  he 
himself  had  discovered.  One  of  these  was  fa- 
vorably noticed  by  a  celebrated  French  astron- 
omer, in  a  Journal  published  in  1808. 

But,  although  his  attention  was  much  devoted 
to  this  book  on  navigation,  he  evidently  consid- 
ered it  as  of  little  moment,  compared  with 
higher  objects.  During  the  long  voyages,  he 
had  been  studying  the  higher  branches  of  knowl- 
edge, the  difficult  calculations  of  the  ncjotions  of 
the  heavenly  bodies.  The  deep  love  he  had  for 
these  pursuits  had  a  most  pleasing  eSect  upon 
him.  If  he  were  sad  or  disturbed,  he  sought 
quiet  and  cheerfulness  in  "  his  peaceful  mathe- 
matics." As  arithmetic  had  been  the  darling 
pursuit  of  his  boyhood,  so  now  the  curious  and 
intricate  problems  of  mathematics,  or  sublime 
theories  of  the  planets,  occupied  his  best  leisure 
hours.  We  have  seen  that,  lono;  before  ffoino;  to 
sea,  he  studied  French,  for  the  purpose  of  read- 
ing a  work  on  mathematics.  He  continued  to 
read  with  much  interest  the  works  of  that  coun- 
try. Some  of  you  may  know,  that  about  the 
close  of  the  last  century,  at  the  Rev^olution  in 
France,  all  the  nation  was  aroused,  every  branch 
of  learning  and  of  art  received  new  life.     The 


86  MEMOIR    OF 

consequence  was,  that  a  vast  many  men  of  the 
highest  genius  arose,  and,  patronised  by  govern- 
ment, they  put  forth  to  the  world  extraordinary 
works  of  learning.  Most  of  these,  when  upon 
astronomy,  ]\Ir.  Bowditch  procured  for  himself, 
by  means  of  the  publisher  of  the  '^  Navigator." 
He  was  still  eno^ao-ed  in  extracting  fromi  various 
works,  or,  in  other  words,  in  filling  up  his  vol- 
umes of  manuscripts,  though  now,  from  the  in- 
crease of  his  property,  he  was  enabled  to  buy 
the  originals  ;  and  of  course,  his  manuscripts 
were  chiefly  his  sea  journals,  and  the  notes 
made  by  himself  upon  the  various  authors  he 
read.  But  he  did  not  confine  himself  entirely 
to  science.  He  read  history,  and  some  works 
of  a  literary  character  ;  although  he  never  spent 
m^uch  time  upon  inferior  books.  "  Why  read 
anything  you  cannot  speak  of?"  he  used  fre- 
quently to  say.  He  likewise  studied  the  Span- 
ish, Italian,  and  Portuonese  lano;uaoes. 

His  mode  of  learning  languages  is  instructive. 
As  soon  as  he  determined  to  study  one,  he 
bought  a  Bible,  grammar,  and  dictionary,  in 
that  tongue.  After  learning  a  few  of  the  pro- 
nouns and  auxiliary  verbs,  he  began  to  translate, 
and  usually  commenced  with  the  first  chapter  of 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCH.  87 

the  Gospel  of  St.  John,  because  in  the  few  first 
verses  there  are  many  repetitions.  Having 
studied  them  thoroughly,  he  proceeded  to  other 
portions  of  the  Bible,  with  which  he  was  most 
acquainted.  When  at  hom.e,  he  always  carried 
the  Bible  to  church,  and  used  it  instead  of  an 
Endish  one,  durino;  the  services.  But  he  had 
another  plan,  which  is  very  useful  to  one  who 
has  a  bad  memory.  I  will  now  explain  to  you 
one  of  his  vocabularies,  or  collections  of  v,  ords 
with  their  meanings  attached  thereto,  so  arrang- 
ed, that  he  could  refer  much  more  easily  to 
them  than  to  a  common  dictionary.  Although 
he  did  not  learn  German  until  a  long  time  after 
the  period  of  his  life  which  we  are  now  speak- 
ing of,  still,  as  the  Genxian  vocabulary  is  the 
most  perfect,  I  will  describe  it.  It  is  made 
upon  two  large  sheets,  one  foot  broad  and  more 
than  a  foot  and  a  half  high,  which,  with  the  in- 
side of  the  covers,  make  six  pages.  The  pages 
are  divided  into  columns,  about  one  and  a  half 
inches  wide  ;  that  is,  large  enough  to  admit,  in 
very  small  writing,  a  word  with  its  signification 
by  its  side.  Of  course,  the  columns  are  divided 
for  the  letters  of  the  alphabet  in  a  manner  pro- 
portioned to  the  number  of  pages  of  each  letter 


88  MEMOIR    OF 

in  the  dictionary.  Having  thus  prepared  his 
book,  whenever  he  found  that  he  was  obhged 
(for  want  of  memory)  to  look  at  the  dictionary 
more  than  once  for  the  signification  of  a  word, 
he  wrote  it  in  his  vocabulary  ;  and,  by  the 
act  of  writing,  strengthened,  in  some  measure, 
his  mem.ory  of  that  word,  and  moreover,  he 
could  turn  to  it  immediately,  and  not  lose  time 
in  turning  over  the  leaves  of  a  larger  book.  The 
number  of  words  thus  seen  at  a  glance,  as  it 
were,  is  remarkable.  In  the  above-described 
six  pages,  there  are  eleven  thousand  German 
words,  all  written  distinctly,  but  in  small  letters, 
and  without  any  repetitions,  and  with  as  many 
abbreviations  as  he  himself  chose.  I  have  been 
thus  minute  upon  this  subject,  not  because  I 
think  that  all  ought  to  make  vocabularies,  but 
because  some  may  be  benefited,  some,  for  in- 
stance, who  have  bad  memories.  Moreover,  I 
wished  to  speak  to  you  of  them,  as  marks  of  his 
perseverance. 

Two  important  events  took  place  during  this 
period  of  Mr.  Bowditch's  life,  which  it  becomes 
our  duty  to  record.  On  the  twenty- eighth  day 
of  May,  1799,  he  was  chosen  a  member  of  the 
American   Academy    of    Arts    and    Sciences. 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCH.  cftl 

This  Society  was  the  first  which  bestowed  upon 
him  the  honor  of  membership  of  its  body.  It 
is  composed  of  men  of  science,  combined  for 
the  purpose  of  improving  themselves  and  the 
community  in  knowledge.  He  continued  a 
member  of  this  body  during  his  hfe  ;  and,  sub- 
sequently, in  May,  18*29,  just  thirty  years  after 
becoming  a  member,  he  was  chosen  its  Presi- 
dent, in  which  ofSce  he  was  continued  until  the 
day  of  his  death. 

Another  honor,  and  one  which  was  more 
pleasant  to  him  than  any  received  at  any  time 
afterwards,  was  bestowed  during  this  period. 
In  1802,  his  ship  was  wind-bound  in  Boston, 
and  he  left  it,  for  the  purpose  of  attending  the 
annual  commencement  at  Cambridge  College. 
He  knew  but  few  individuals  there,  though  he 
had  corresponded  with  some  of  the  Professors  ; 
and  one  of  the  Corporation  of  the  College,  Chief 
Justice  Parsons,  was  one  of  his  kindest  friends. 
He  went  alone,  and,  while  listening  in  the 
crowd  to  the  names  of  those  upon  whom  the 
honors  were  conferred,  he  thought  he  heard  his 
own  pronounced,  but  he  supposed  that  he  might 
have  been  mistaken,  inasmuch  as  the  notice  was 
given  in  Latin.  But  how  great  was  his  emotion, 


90  MEMOIR   OF 

when  he  heard  from  a  friend  that  his  suspicions 
were  well  founded  !  It  was  to  him  the  proudest 
day  of  his  life.  And  we,  who  know  his  humble 
origin,  his  simphcity  and  modesty,  can  in  some 
measure  understand  the  thrill  of  pleasure  that  ^ 
must  have  run  through  him,  when  he  found  him- 
self thus  noticed  by  the  first  and  oldest  Univer- 
sity in  the  land.  And  why  was  he  thus  noticed  ? 
Because  he  had  well  improved  the  hours  of  his 
life  ;  because  his  days  and  nights  had  been  spent 
in  activity  and  earnest  study.  In  after-life, 
when  his  fame  was  established,  and  the  great 
societies  of  Europe  all  bestowed  upon  him  their 
diplomas,  he  always  looked  upon  them  as  of 
small  moment,  compared  with  this  his  first, 
earliest  proof  of  esteem  from  his  fellow-men. 

Having  now  completed  his  sea-life,  let  us 
enter  upon  his  new  scene  of  energy  and  benevo- 
lence, as  a  citizen  and  father  ;  and  our  next 
chapter  will  include  several  years  of  his  life  in 
Salem. 


NATHANIEL    BOWDTTCH.  91 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

[From  1803  to  1817  —  aged  30  —  44.] 

Mr.  B.  translates  a  Spanish  paper :  is  chosen  President  of 
a  Fire  and  Marine  Insurance  Office. — Habits  of  life. — 
Becomes  interested  in  poUtics.  —  Federalists  and  Demo- 
crats. —  Great  excitement.  —  Division  between  him  and 
old  friends,  in  consequence  of  zeal. — Feelings  of  Mr. 
B,,  when  war  was  declared.  —  Decision  of  character.  — 
—  His  charity.  —  Earnestness  in  aiding  others  :  ludi- 
crous instance  of  the  effects  of  this.  —  Boldness  towards 
a  truckman.  —  Zeal  for  improving  the  libraries  :  unites 
the  two.  — Dr.  Prince's  church.  —  Performance  of  du- 
ties of  President  of  Insurance  Office.  —  Answer  to  an 
overbearing  rich  man.  —  Appointed  Professor  of  Mathe- 
matics at  Harvard  College  :  same  at  West  Point.  —  His 
modesty.  —  Hints  about  leaving  Salem. 

Mr.  Bowditch,  on  his  arrival  from  sea, 
met  with  one  of  those  events  to  which  he  always 
referred,  when  any  one  doubted  the  expediency 
of  any  kind  of  knowledge.  In  his  voyages  to 
Portugal  and  Spain,  he  had  become  acquainted 
with  the  Spanish  language.  It  so  happened, 
that  no  one  else  in  Salem  was  acquainted  with 
it ;  and  an  important  paper  came  to  the  care  of 
a  sturdy  and  sensible  old  sea-captain,  but  it  was 
unfortunately  unintelligible  to  him,  for  it  was 
written  in  this  same  unknown  tongue.  A  friend 
suggested  to  him  that  probably  Mr.  Bowditch 


92  MEMOIR    OF 

would  decipher  it  for  him.  The  document  was 
handed  to  Mr.  Bowditch,  who  in  a  few  days 
returned  it  with  a  free  Enghsh  translation  ac- 
companying it.  The  old  sailor  was  delighted, 
and  immediately  supposed  that  any  one  who 
knew  so  much  about  a  foreio;n  lano-uao-e  must  be 
a  very  superior  person,  and  capable  of  perform- 
ing any  duties.  Moreover,  he  was  delighted 
with  the  apparent  generosity  of  Mr.  Bowditch, 
in  makino;  the  translation  without  charo;e  to  his 
employer.  It  happened  at  this  time,  that  an 
Insurance  Office  in  Salem  was  in  need  of  a 
President.  The  Captain  was  one  of  the  direc- 
tors of  this  Institution,  and  immediately  used  all 
his  influence  in  promoting  the  election  of  his 
young  friend.  This  influence  succeeded,  and, 
in  1804,  we  find  Mr.  Bowditch  installed  as 
President  of  the  Essex  Fire  and  Marine  Insur- 
ance Company.  In  this  office  he  continued, 
with  entire  success,  until  1823,  when  he  re- 
moved to  Boston,  and  took  charge  of  other 
similar  but  much  larger  institutions.  The  relief 
was  great,  which  he  experienced  from  not  being 
obliged  to  seek  subsistence  for  his  family  by  en- 
p-ao-ino;  in  the  sailor's  life.     The  duties  of  the 

too      o 

office  in  which  he  now  engaged  seemed  to  oc- 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCH.  93 

cupy  all  his  lime,  yet  he  still  did  not  neglect 
science.  He  arose  at  six  in  the  morning ,  during 
the  year ;  and  took  a  walk,  either  before  or  after 
breakfast,  of  at  least  two  miles.  At  nine  o'clock 
he  went  to  the  office,  and  there  he  continued 
until  one.  After  another  walk,  he  dined,  and, 
after  a  short  sleep,  he  again  visited  his  office 
until  tea-time.  From  tea-time  until  nine  in  the 
evening,  he  was  at  his  duties,  and  amid  busi- 
ness. Now,  it  is  very  certam  that  he  was  not 
all  the  time,  during  office  hours,  actually  engaged 
in  business,  but  he  was  constantly  liable  to  inter- 
ruption, as  much  as  he  had  been  when  an 
apprentice.  Yet  he  found  leisure  enough  for 
study,  by  early  rising  and  regular  habits.  He 
used  to  say,  '^  Before  nine  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing, 1  learned  all  my  mathematics.''  He  kept 
some  of  his  books  on  philosophy  at  his  office, 
and,  whenever  a  moment  of  leisure  recurred,  he 
was  busily  occupied  in  science.  At  home,  he 
had  no  private  room  for  many  years  ;  and,  as 
his  family  of  young  children  grew  up  around 
him,  he  studied  at  his  simple  pine  desk,  in  the 
midst  of  their  noise  and  play.  He  was  never 
disturbed,  except  when  they  failed  in  kindness 
to  one  another,  and  then  he  could  never  con- 


94  MEMOIR    OF 

tinue  to  study  until  quiet  was  restored.  In 
truth,  the  influence  of  his  studies  was  felt  by 
his  children,  whose  greatest  reward  was  to  re- 
ceive from  him,  in  token  of  his  approbation,  the 
drawings  of  various  constellations  upon  their 
arras  or  forehead.  It  was  a  sad  day  for  them, 
when  they  did  not  receive  from  his  pen  the  rep- 
resentation of  the  Belt  of  Orion,  or  of  some 
other  beautiful  appearance  in  the  heavens. 

But,  in  addition  to  the  duties  of  his  office,  he 
had  began  to  be  interested  in  the  political  affairs 
of  the  day.  After  the  Revolution,  and  the  new 
government  of  the  country  went  into  operation 
under  the  Presidency  of  General  Washington, 
there  had  been  but  little  political  excitement  in 
Essex  county.  There  were  no  great  parties, 
which  were  destined  soon  afterwards  to  spring 
up,  and  excite  the  bitterest  animosity  between 
individuals  who  had  been  from  birth  the  warm- 
est friends.  It  \vOuld  be  impossible,  were  it  use- 
ful, to  tell  all  the  causes  that  led  to  the  formation 
of  the  two  great  sects  in  politics,  called  the  Fed- 
eralists and  Republicans.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that 
even  during  Washington's  connexion  with  the 
government,  the  seeds  of  this  division  were  be- 
ginning to  spring  up ;  and,  upon  the  accession 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCH,  95 

of  Mr.  Adams,  the  father  of  John  Quincy 
Adams  who  is  now  living,  the  rancor  increased 
with  tenfold  energy,  until  at  length  the  Repub- 
lican party  triumphed  in  the  election  of  Thomas 
Jefferson  to  the  office  of  President  of  the  United 
States.  In  Salem,  the  violence  of  party  spirit 
rose  as  high  as  in  any  city  of  the  Union.  It 
would  have  been  surprising,  with  his  desire  for 
aiding  any  public  cause,  if  Mr.  Bowditch  had 
not  been  influenced  by  the  excitements  of  the 
day.  He  was  much  interested  in  them  ;  and, 
in  the  note-books  upon  science,  we  find  fre- 
quently brief  memoranda  of  the  results  of  an 
election  at  the  bottom  of  a  page,  or  at  the  end 
of  some  theorem.  He  was  moreover,  for  two 
years,  a  member  of  the  State  Council.  He  was 
likewise  proposed  by  the  Federalists  as  a  repre- 
sentative to  the  General  Court,  but  at  that  elec- 
tion they  were  defeated. 

We  have  scarcely  any  idea  of  the  rancor 
with  which  the  two  parties  contended.  Persons 
wdio  had  been,  during  life,  sincere  and  devoted 
friends,  were  separated  by  this  virulence.  Mr. 
Bowditch  suffered  as  much  as  others,  on  this 
account,  and  two  of  his  longest  and  best-tried 
friends  he  did  not  have  any  intercourse  with,  for 


96  MEMOIR   OF 

many  years.  Dr.  Bentley  and  Captain  Prince 
were  these  persons,  and  with  both  of  them  you 
are  already  acquainted.  It  was  not  until  1817, 
when  President  Monroe  visited  these  northern 
States,  that  harmony  was  restored  between  the 
two  great  divisions,  and  friends  once  more  em- 
braced each  other.  But,  in  the  midst  of  all 
this  excitement  with  politics,  Mr.  Bowditch 
never  neglected  the  duties  of  his  office,  or  the 
study  of  science.  In  fact,  the  pursuit  of  learning 
had,  as  before,  a  sweet  influence  over  his  char- 
acter. It  still  made  him  calm  and  serene.  An 
illustration  of  this  you  may  find  in  what  follows. 
In  1812,  after  a  long  series  of  supposed  insults 
and  wrongs  from  Great  Britain,  the  American 
government  declared  war  against  that  power. 
Mr.  Bowditch  was  completely  overcome  by  the 
news,  and  for  tw^o  days  was  so  much  distressed, 
that  he  was  unable  to  study.  Friends  who 
knew  him  had  never  seen  him  look  so  saddened 
before,  on  any  public  emergency.  He  could 
speak  of  nothing  but  the  disasters  that  he  fore- 
saw war  would  entail  upon  his  country.  On  the 
morning  of  the  third  day,  he  arose,  and,  descend- 
ing into  the  parlor,  said  to  his  wife,  ''It  won't 
do  for  me  to  continue  thus.    I  will  not  think  any 


NATHANIEL   BOWDITCH.  97 

more  about  it.''  'Saying  this,  he  retired  again 
to  his  books.  Tiie  difference  in  his  wliole  man- 
ner was  very  perceptible.  He  rarely  afterward 
allowed  himself  to  be  disturbed  by  the  unfortu- 
nate state  of  affairs ;  and,  amid  the  placid 
thoughts  excited  in  him  by  science,  he  found 
certain  rest.  Such  should  be  the  benign  influ- 
ence of  study  upon  every  one. 

Amid  all  these  various  engagements,  he  was 
full  of  sympathy  for  others.  Wherever  he  saw 
he  could  aid  with  his  counsel,  he  did  so;  and 
many  widows  and  orphans  have  felt  the  influ- 
ence of  his  charity.  This  charity  showed  itself 
chiefly  in  a  desire  to  improve  others.  There 
was  scarcely  one  of  those  connected  with  him^ 
in  friendship,  upon  whom  he  did  not  devote  some 
lime  for  their  instruction.  To  one  young  lady 
he  taught  French,  and  another  studied  Italian 
with  him.  If  a  young  man  needed  funds,  he 
knew  upon  whom  he  could  call  with  a  certainty 
of  substantial  aid ;  for  throughout  life,  it  was  one 
of  the  remarkable  attributes  of  Pvlr.  Bowditch's 
character,  that  he  could  persuade  many  to  open 
their  hearts  to  the  poor,  who,  upon  other  occa* 
sions,  were  deaf  to  the  common  feelings  of  hu^ 
manity.  For  one  young  person  of  this  kind) 
7 


98  MEMOIR    OF 

Mr.  B.  obtained  a  subscription  sufficient  to 
enable  him  to  continue  at  the  university,  whereas 
his  young  friend  would  have  been  unable  to  da 
so,  without  assistance.  He  was  always  so  zeal- 
ous in  these  undertakings,  that  no  one  felt  under 
any  obligations  to  him.  It  was  his  delight  to 
help,  and  every  one  saw  that  his  heart  was  en- 
gaged in  the  cause.  His  zeal  for  humanity  was 
at  times  immoderate,  and  the  followino;  lauohable 
law  case  occurred  in  consequence  of  it.  One 
day,  he  was  informed  that  a  little  girl  who 
lived  with  him  had  been  run  over  by  some 
careless  driver,  and  a  crowd,  w^iich  he  could 
perceive  at  a  little  distance  from  him,  was  a  col- 
lection of  individuals  drawn  together  on  her 
account.  He  immediately  ran  forward,  and  get- 
ting to  the  outside  of  the  circle,  began  very 
energetically  to  make  his  way  into  it.  In  doing 
so,  he  pulled  one  of  the  bystanders  so  forcibly, 
that  the  individual,  as  it  will  appear  in  the  sequel, 
was  offended.  Arriving,  however,  by  dint  of 
hard  pushing,  at  the  object  of  his  search,  he  took 
his  little  domestic  with  him,  and  guided  her  safe- 
ly home.  On  the  next  day,  he  was  much  sur- 
prised at  receiving  a  summons  from  a  justice  of 
the  peace,  to  appear  before  him,  to  answer  to 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCH.  99 

the  charge  of  assault  and  battery  upon  the  indi- 
vidual above-mentioned.  He  answered  the  call, 
and  paid  his  fine  of  a  few  dollars  ;  but  the  judge, 
who  had  been  notorious  for  always  making  both 
parties  suffer,  when  it  was  possible  for  himself  to 
gain  thereby,  said,  on  receiving  the  fine,  ''  But 

you  say  that  Mr. pushed  you,  after  you 

had  pulled  him."  ''  I  did  sir."  ''  Very  well, 
then  if  you  wish  to  complain  of  him,  I  will  fine 
him,  likewise."  The  ludicrous  nature  of  the 
whole  action  struck  Mr.  Bowditch  so  forcibly, 
that  he  was  not  unwilling  to  increase  the  folly  of 
it.  The  plaintiff  was  then  fined,  and  the  affair 
was  ended.  It  is  but  right  to  say,  that  the  judge 
was  considered,  previous  to  this,  one  entirely 
unfit  for  the  office.  Probably  no  other  would 
have  issued  a  summons  on  such  an  occasion  ; 
and  the  plaintiff  was  not  unjustly  punished  for 
having  called  upon  such  a  person  to  aid  him  in 
prosecuting  an  individual  w4io,  in  exerting  him- 
self to  help  another,  had  slightly  disarranged  the 
dress  of  a  bystander. 

Mr.  Bowditch's  desire  to  aid  the  unfortunate 
was  exhibited  on  another  occasion,  when  a  poor, 
overladen  horse  was  the  object  of  his  commisera- 
tion.    A  truckman  had  been  violently  beating 


100  MEMOIR   OF 

the  animal,  in  order  to  induce  him  to  pull  along 
a  very  heavy  load,  which  was  too  large  for  his 
strength.  Mr.  B.  had  watched  the  driver  for 
some  time,  and  at  length  he  ran  vehemently  for- 
ward, and  in  abrupt  and  decided  tones  ordered 
him  to  desist.  The  truckman  was  much  supe- 
rior to  Mr.  Bowditch  in  personal  strength,  and 
was,  at  first,  disposed  to  ridicule  the  attempt  of 
his  inferior  to  restrain  him.  Full  of  indigna- 
tion, Mr.  B.  exclaimed,  "  If  you  dare  touch 
that  horse  again,  and  if  you  do  not  immediately 
go  and  get  another  to  assist  him,  I  will  appeal 
to  the  law,  and  you  will  see  which  of  us  two 
will  conquer."  The  man  yielded,  and  Mr.  B. 
passed  away. 

The  public  institutions  of  the  town  all  felt  his 
influence.  The  East-India  Marine  Society,  of 
which  1  have  already  spoken,  improved  very 
much  under  his  auspices,  as  President.  It  had 
fallen  considerably  during  high  political  times, 
and,  w^hen  he  w^as  chosen  chief  officer,  he  in- 
stilled such  zeal  among  the  younger  members 
of  it,  and  obtained  so  many  new  members  that 
it  revived,  and,  soon  after  his  removal  to  Bos- 
ton, the  splendid  hall  was  erected,  containing 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCH.  101 

the  most  remarkable  collection  of  East-India 
curiosities,  of  which  I  spoke  in  chapter  sixth. 

The  libraries  he  had  always  felt  very  much 
interested  in.  You  already  know  what  reason 
he  had  for  being  devoted  to  the  Philosophical 
Library,  for  from  it  he  drew  most  of  his  knowl- 
edge of  science.  But  there  was  another,  which 
had  been  in  existence  much  longer  than  this, 
called  the  Social  Library.  The  books  contained 
in  these  two  collections  were  almost  wholly  dis- 
tinct in  their  characters.  In  one,  only  works  of 
science  were  to  be  found  ;  while  the  other  was 
chiefly  devoted  to  literature.  Mr.  Bowditch  saw 
that  both  of  them  united  would  be  of  great  ser- 
vice to  the  community  ;  for  it  would  not  merely 
combine  the  books,  but  the  energies  of  the  pro- 
prietors. Consequently,  it  appears  that  he,  with 
another  of  the  Philosophical  Library  proprietors, 
^vas  chosen  a  committee  for  the  purpose  of  pro- 
viding for  a  union.  This  was  happily  effected, 
1810;  and  the  Salem  Athenaeum  arose  from 
the  combination.  The  rooms  over  his  office 
were  chosen  as  the  place  for  their  deposit ;  and 
for  many  years,  he  was  one  of  the  most  active 
of  the  Trustees. 


102  MEMOIR    OF 

There  was  another  institution,  with  which  he 
was  intimately  connected  during  the  whole  of 
the  time  he  lived  in  Salem  ;  I  allude  to  the 
church  in  which  his  early  friend,  Rev.  Dr. 
Prince,  officiated.  He  was  one  of  the  commit- 
tee of  the  parish  ;  and,  though  never  a  member 
of  the  church,  strictly  so  called,  he  was  a  con- 
stant attendant  upon  the  services,  and  had  great 
influence  in  keeping  up  the  harmony  and  sup- 
porting the  true  dignity  of  the  congregation. 

In  the  performance  of  his  duties  as  President 
of  the  Insurance  Company,  he  was  ever  faithful 
and  true.  His  desire  was,  to  know  the  truth 
and  to  act  up  to  it.  He  was  frequently  placed 
in  circumstances  which  required  great  decision. 
At  times,  a  disposition  was  shown  to  deceive 
him  ;  at  others,  a  simJlar  one  was  shown  by  a 
richer  stockholder  to  gain  advantages  over  a 
poorer  one.  I  well  remember  an  anecdote  in 
which  it  is  said  a  purse-proud  rich  man  strove  to 
browbeat  him  into  doing  an  act  which  Mr.  B. 
thought  would  be  unjust  to  another  poorer  one. 
The  nabob  pleaded  his  riches,  and  amount  of 
stock,  and  intimated  that  he  would  have  his 
way.  '^  No,  sir,  you  won't.  I  stand  here  in 
this  place  to  see  justice  done,  and,  as  long  as  I 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCII.  103 

am  here,  I  will  defend  the  weak."  He  seldom 
met  with  difficulties  of  this  kind,  for  few  dared 
approach  him  with  the  intention  to  be  unjust  or 
untrue.  Nothing  aroused  him  so  much  to  an 
aJmost  lion  fierceness,  as  any  appearance  of 
wickedness  in  the  transaction  of  public  business. 
He  had  much  wisdom  likewise  in  the  selection 
of  risks,  so  that  the  office,  while  under  his  con- 
trol, succeeded  admirably,  and  he  left  it  pros- 
perous. 

During  his  residence  in  Salem,  he  was  fre- 
quently invited  to  seats  of  honor  and  trust.  We 
have  already  mentioned  his  political  course.  In 
1806,  by  the  agency  of  Chief  Justice  Parsons, 
then  in  the  Corporation  of  Harvard  College,  he 
was  appointed  Prcfessor  of  Mathematics  in  that 
University.  In  1818,  he  was  requested  by 
President  Jefferson,  in  very  flattering  terms,  to 
accept  of  a  similar  office  in  the  University  of 
Virginia.  In  1820,  he  was  called  upon  by  the 
Secretary  of  War  of  the  United  States,  to  con- 
sent to  an  appointment  at  the  Public  Military 
School  at  West  Point.  All  of  these  he  refused, 
as  not  congenial  to  his  mind.  He  always  de- 
clined talking  in  public.  He  would  teach  all 
who  came  to  him,  but  he  could  not  deliver  a 


104  MEMOIR    OF 

public  course  of  lectures.  His  extreme  modesty 
prevented.  For  it  will  be  remembered,  that  he 
was  as  remarkable,  from  his  youth,  for  his  mod- 
esty, amounting,  in  early  life,  to  diffidence,  as 
he  was  for  his  other  qualities.  Moreover,  it 
should  be  stated  that,  at  times,  he  had  a  certain 
hesitation  in  his  mode  of  speaking,  which  prob- 
ably would  have  prevented  him  from  addressing 
easily  a  public  audience. 

In  181S,  he  was  urged  to  take  charge  of  an 
Insurance  Office  in  Boston,  but  he  preferred  liv- 
ing in  his  native  place. 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCH.  105 


CHAPTER   IX. 


[From  1803  to  1823,  —  aged  30  —  50.] 

Papers  published  by  Mr.  B.  in  the  Memoirs  of  the  Acad- 
emy :  account  otsome  of  them.  — Total  eclipse  of  the  sun 
in  1808  :  effect  of  it.  —  Anecdote  of  Chief  Justice  Par- 
sons.—  Meteor  that  fell  over  Weston,  Ct.  :  account  of  its 
curious  appearance  :  effect  of  these  papers  upon  his  fame 
in  Europe.  —  Chosen  member  of  most  of  the  learned 
societies  of  the  Old  World.  ~  Quits  Salem,  to  become 
connected  with  larger  institutions  in  Boston. 

It  should  be  remembered,  that,  during  these 
stormy  political  times,  Mr.  Bowditch  was  chiefly 
engaged  in  making  his  notes  on  the  great  work 
to  which  we  have  already  alluded,  La  Place's 
"  Mecanique  Celeste  ;  "  and  that  it  was  between 
the  years  1800  and  1820,  that  is,  during  this 
same  time,  that  he  wrote  twenty-three  papers, 
which  were  published  in  the  Memoirs  of  the 
American  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences.  Of 
some  of  these  last,  1  will  give  you  an  account. 
Of  the  others,  were  I  to  mention  them,  you 
could  understand  but  little.  They  relate  chief- 
ly to  observations  made  upon  the  moon  ;  the 
comets  of  1807  and  1811  ;  the  eclipses  of  the 
sun,  which  took  place  in  1S06  and  1811  ;  meas- 


106  MEMOIR    OF 

urements  of  the  height  of  the  White  Mountains 
in  New  Hampshire ;  observations  on  the  com- 
pass ;  on  a  pendulum  supported  by  two  points  ; 
and  the  correction  of  some  mistakes  in  one  of 
the  books  studied  first  by  him  in  early  life, 
called  Newton's  ^^  Principia."  A  few  of  these 
papers  I  will,  in  some  measure,  explain  to  you. 
I  commence  with  his  observation  upon  a  total 
eclipse  of  the  sun,  which  occurred  June  16, 
1806.  I  shall  quote  nearly  the  words  of  the 
observer.  '^  On  the  day  of  the  eclipse,  the 
weather  was  remarkably  fine,  scarcely  a  cloud 
being  visible  in  any  part  of  the  heavens.  I 
made  preparations  for  the  observations  in  the 
garden  adjoining  the  house  in  which  I  reside, 
near  the  northern  part  of  Summer  street,  in 
Salem.  Having  been  disappointed  in  procuring 
a  telescope  of  a  large  magnifying  power,  I  was 
obliged  to  make  use  of  that  attached  to  my  the- 
odolite, which  gave  very  distinct  vision,  though  its 
magnifying  power  was  small.  An  assistant  was 
seated  near  me,  who  counted  the  seconds  from 
a  chronometer,  and  thus  enabled  me  to  mark 
down  with  a  pencil  the  time  when  the  first  im- 
pression was  made  on  the  sun,  without  taking 
my  eye  from  the  telescope,  till  four  or  five  sec- 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCH.  107 

onds  had  elapsed,  ^nd  the  echpse  had  sensibly 
increased  ;  after  which  I  examined  the  second 
and  minute  hands  of  the  chronometer,  and  took 
every  precaution  to  prevent  mistakes.  Four  or 
five  minutes  before  the  commencement  of  the 
eclipse,  I  began  to  observe  that  part  of  the  sun 
where  the  first  contact  [of  the  moon's  shadow] 
was  expected  to  take  place  ;  and  eight  minutes 
twenty-eight  seconds  after  ten  o'clock,  I  observ- 
ed the  first  impression.  As  the  eclipse  advanced, 
there  did  not  appear  to  be  so  great  a  diminution 
of  the  light  as  was  generally  expected  ;  and  it 
was  not  till  the  sun  was  nearly  covered,  that  the 
darkness  was  very  sensible.  The  last  ray  of 
light  disappeared  instantaneously.  The  moon 
was  then  seen  surrounded  by  a  luminous  appear- 
ance of  considerable  extent,  such  as  has  been 
generally  taken  notice  of  in  total  eclipses  of  the 
sun."  A  number  of  stars  became  visible.  The 
observer  mentions  that  the  lio;ht  in  the  o-arden 
was  not  entirely  gone  ;  but  in  the  house,  candles 
were  needed,  as  if  it  were  evening.  At  thir- 
ty-two minutes  eighteen  seconds  after  eleven 
o'clock,  that  is,  at  a  little  more  than  an  hour  from 
the  beginning  of  the  eclipse,  the  first  returning 
ray  of  light  burst  forth,  with  great  splendor.     I 


lOS  MEMOIR    OF 

have  heard  the  ejETect,  described  by  those  who 
saw  it,  as  surpassingly  grand.  Suddenly,  the 
light  of  midday  seemed  to  break  in  upon  the 
quiet  of  evening.  So  completely  were  all  the 
animal  creation  deceived,  that  the  cows  returned 
lowing  homeward,  and  the  fowls  sought  their 
roosts,  and  quietly  placed  their  heads  under  their 
wings.  Ail  human  beings  were  looking  in  mute 
amazement,  and  deep  silence  prevailed,  as  the 
dark  shadow  of  the  moon  came  stealing  over 
the  surface  of  the  sun,  at  noon.  There  was 
something  fearful  about  the  total  obscuration  of 
the  luminary.  Suddenly,  this  beautiful  ray  of 
burning  light  shot  forth,  'mid  heaven,  and  fell 
upon  the  earth,  and  with  it  arose  a  loud  shout 
from  the  assembled  crowd,  and  aged  men  *  and 
women  joined  in  the  chorus,  and  saluted  again 
the  orb  of  day. 

This  paper,  though  short,  is  one  of  the  most 
important  he  ever  wrote.  In  a  note  to  it,  he 
first  mentions  publicly  a  mistake  he  had  discov- 
ered in  the  '*  Mecanlque  Celeste." 

*  Chief  Justice  Parsons,  it  is  said,  used  to  mention  that 
moment  as  one  of  the  most  exciting  of  his  Ufe  ;  and  he  could 
not  forbear  throwing  up  his  hat,  and  joining  in  the  shout 
with  which  the  boys  saluted  the  first  returning  light  of 
the  sun. 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCH.  109 

In  1815,  Mr.  Bowditch  published  another 
paper,  which  I  may  be  able  to  explain  to  you  in 
some  degree.  You  have  all  heard  of  falling 
stars,  or  meteors,  and  probably  most  of  you  have 
seen  them  frequently,  when  walking  at  night, 
w^hen  the  sky  is  clear.  Some  of  these  are  very 
small  ;  they  seem  at  a  great  distance.  They 
suddenly  appear  in  our  heavens,  and  as  suddenly 
disappear,  and  nothing  more  is  heard  or  seen  of 
them.  Others,  on  the  contrary,  appear  larger, 
and  fall  to  the  earth,  after  having  traversed  a 
great  portion  of  the  heavens.  On  the  four- 
teenth of  December,  1807,  one  of  the  most 
curious  exploded,  and  fell  over  Weston,  in  Con- 
necticut.    Mr.  B.,  in  his  Memoir,  writes  thus: 

''  The  extraordinary  meteor  which  appeared 
at  Weston,  in  Connecticut,  on  the  fourteenth  of 
December,  1807,  and  exploded  with  several 
discharges  of  stones,  having  excited  great  atten- 
tion thioudiout  the  United  States,  and  bein^: 
one  of  those  phenomena  of  which  few  exact  ob- 
servations are  to  be  found  in  the  history  of  phy- 
sical science,  I  have  thought  that  a  collection 
of  the  best  observations  of  its  appearance  at 
different  places,  with  the  necessary  deductions 
for  determining,  as  accurately  as  possible,  the 


110  MEMOIR    OF 

height,  direction,  velocity,  and  magnitude,  of 
the  body,  would  not  be  unacceptable  to  the 
Academy,  since  facts  of  this  kind,  besides  being 
objects  of  great  curiosity,  may  be  useful  in  the 
investigation  of  the  origin  and  nature  of  these 
meteors ;  and  as  the  methods  of  making  these 
calculations  are  not  fully  explained  in  any  trea- 
tise of  trigonometry  common  in  this  country,  I 
have  given  the  solutions  of  two  of  the  most  ne- 
cessary problems,  with  examples  calculated  at 
full  length.  The  second  problem  is  not  (to  my 
knowledge)  given  in  any  treatise  of  spherics. 
The  observations  of  the  meteor  which,  after 
many  inquiries,  were  found  to  have  been  made 
with  sufficient  accuracy  to  be  introduced  in  the 
present  investigation,  were  those  made  at  Wen- 
ham,  about  seven  miles  northeasterly  of  Sa- 
lem, by  Mrs.  Gardner,  a  very  intelligent  lady, 
who  had  an  opportunity  of  observing  it  with 
great  attention ;  those  at  Weston,  by  Judge 
Wlieeler  and  Mr.  Staples;  and  those  at  Rut- 
land, in  Vermont,  by  William  Page,  Esq." 
After  giving  the  requisite  solutions,  he  pro- 
ceeds :  "  Some  time  after  the  appearance  of 
the  meteor,  1  went  with  Mr.  Pickering  to  Mrs. 
Gardner's  house,  at  Wenham,  where  she  had 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCH.  HI 

observed  the  phenomenon.  She  informed  us, 
that  on  the  morning  of  the  fourteenth  of  De- 
cember, 1807,  when  she  arose,  she  went  towards 
the  window  of  her  chamber,  which  looks  to  the 
westward,  for  the  pm'pose  of  observing  the  wea- 
ther, according  to  her  invariable  practice,  for 
many  years  past.  The  sky  was  clear,  except  a 
few  thin  clouds  in  the  west.  It  was  past  day- 
break, and^  by  estimation,  about  half  an  hour 
before  sunrise,  or  seven  o'clock.  The  meteor 
was  immediately  observed,  just  over  the  south- 
ern part  of  the  barn  in  her  farm-yard,  nearly  in 
front  of  the  window  ;  its  disc  was  well  defined  ; 
and  it  resembled  the  moon  so  much,  that,  unpre- 
pared as  Mrs.  G.'s  mind  was  for  a  phenomenon 
of  that  nature,  she  was  not  at  first  aware  that 
it  was  not  the  moon,  till  she  perceived  it  in 
motion,  when  her  first  thought  (to  use  her  own 
words)  was,  '  Where  is  the  moon  going  to  ? ' 
The  reflection,  how^ever,  was  hardly  made, 
when  she  corrected  herself;  and  with  her  eye 
followed  the  body  with  the  closest  attention 
throughout  its  whole  course.  It  moved  in  a 
direction  nearly  parallel  to  the  horizon,  and  dis- 
appeared behind  a  cloud  northward  of  the  house 


112  MEMOIR   OF 

of  Samuel  Blanchard,  Esq.  She  supposed  the 
meteor  to  have  been  visible  about  half  a  minute. 
'^  The  attention  of  Judge  Wheeler  was  first 
drawn  by  a  sudden  flash  of  light,  which  illumi- 
nated every  object.  Looking  up,  he  discovered 
m  the  north  a  globe  of  fire  just  then  passing  be- 
hind the  cloud  which  obscured,  though  it  did  not 
entirely  hide,  the  meteor.  In  this  situation,  its 
appearance  was  distinct  and  well  defined,  like 
that  of  the  sun  seen  through  a  mist.  It  rose 
from  the  north,  and  proceeded  in  a  direction 
nearly  perpendicular  to  the  horizon,  but  inclin- 
ing, by  a  very  small  angle,  to  the  west,  and  de- 
viating a  little  from  the  plane  of  a  great  circle, 
but  in  pretty  large  curves,  sometimes  on  one  side 
of  the  plane,  and  sometimes  on  the  other,  but 
never  making  an  angle  with  it  of  more  than 
four  or  five  degrees.  Its  apparent  diameter  was 
about  one  half  or  two  thirds  the  apparent  dia- 
meter of  the  full  moon.  It  progress  was  not  so 
rapid  as  that  of  common  meteors  and  shooting 
stars.  When  it  passed  behind  the  thinner 
clouds,  it  appeared  brighter  than  before ;  and 
when  it  passed  the  spots  of  clear  sky,  it  flashed 
with  a  vivid  hght,yet  not  so  intense  as  the  light*- 


NATHANIEL   BOWDITCH.  113 

ning  of  a  thunderstorm.  Where  it  was  not  too 
much  obscured  by  thick  clouds,  a  waving,  coni- 
cal train  of  paler  light  was  seen  to  attend  it,  in 
length  about  ten  or  twelve  diameters  of  the 
body.  In  the  clear  sky,  a  brisk  scintillation 
was  observed  about  the  body  of  the  meteor, 
like  that  of  a  burning  firebrand  carried  against 
the  wind.  It  disappeared  about  fifteen  degrees 
short  of  the  zenith,  and  about  the  same  number 
of  degrees  west  of  the  meridian.  It  did  not 
vanish  instantaneously,  but  grew,  pretty  rapidly, 
fainter  and  fainter,  as  a  red-hot  cannon-ball 
would  do,  if  cooling  in  the  dark,  only  with 
much  more  rapidity.  The  whole  period 
between  its  first  appearance  and  total  extinc- 
tion was  estimated  at  about  thirty  seconds. 
About  thirty  or  forty  seconds  after  this, 
three  loud  and  distinct  reports,  like  those  of  a 
four-pounder  near  at  hand,  were  heard.  Then 
followed  a  rapid  succession  of  reports  less  loud, 
so  as  to  produce  a  continued  rumbling.  This 
noise  continued  about  as  long  as  the  body  was 
in  rising,  and  died  away,  apparently,  in  the 
direction  fi^om  which  the  meteor  came.  Mr. 
Staples  observed,  that  when  the  meteor  dis- 
appeared, there  were  apparently  three  success 


114  MEMOIR   OF 

sive  efforts  or  leaps  of  the  fire-ball,  which  grew 
more  dim  at  every  throe,  and  disappeared  with 
the  last.  From  the  various  accounts  which  we 
have  received  of  the  appearance  of  the  body,  at 
different  places,  we  are  inclined  to  believe  that 
the  time  between  the  disappearance  and  report, 
as  estimated  by  Judge  Wheeler,  is  too  little,  and 
that  a  minute  is  the  least  time  that  could  have 
intervened. 

''  The  observations  made  at  Rutland  were 
procured  by  the  kind  offices  of  Professor  Hall, 
of  Middlebury  College,  Vermont,  to  whom  Mr. 
Page  communicated  his  valuable  observations 
in  a  paper  expressed  in  the  following  terms.  ^  I 
was  at  the  west  door  of  my  house  on  Monday 
morning,  the  fourteenth  of  December,  1807, 
about  daylight,  and  perceiving  the  sky  suddenly 
illuminated,  1  raised  my  eyes,  and  beheld  a  me- 
teor of  a  circular  form  in  the  southwesterly  part 
of  the  heavens,  rapidly  descending  to  the  south, 
leaving  behind  it  a  vivid,  sparkling  train  of  light. 
The  atmosphere  near  the  south  part  of  the  hori- 
zon was  very  hazy  ;  but  the  passage  of  the 
meteor  behind  the  clouds  was  visible  until  it 
descended  below  the  mountains,  about  twenty 
miles  south  of  this  place.     There   were  white 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCH.  115 

fleecy  clouds  scattered  about  the  sky ;  but  none 
so  dense  as  to  obscure  the  track  of  the  meteor. 
I  now  lament  that  I  did  not  make  more  particu- 
lar observations  at  the  time,  and  I  should  proba- 
bly, until  this  day,  have  considered  it  to  be  what 
is  commonly  called  a  ^  falling  star,^  had  I  not 
read  in  the  New  York  papers  an  account  of  the 
explosion  of  a  meteor,  and  the  falling  of  some 
meteoric  stones,  near  New  Haven,  Connecticut, 
which,  by  recurring  to  circumstances  then  fresh 
in  my  recollection,  I  found  to  be  on  the  same 
morning  that  I  observed  the  meteor  at  Rutland. 
I  am  indebted  to  my  learned  friend,  Dr.  Samuel 
Williams,  for  his  aid  and  directions  in  ascertain- 
ing: the  situation  of  the  meteor,  when  I  first  ob- 
served  it,  and  its  course,  and  also  for  the  order 
of  my  observations  :  — Form,  circular  ;  magni- 
tude, less  than  a  quarter  of  the  diameter  of  the 
moon  ;  color,  red,  vivid  light ;  tail,  or  train  of 
light,  about  eight  times  the  length  of  its  diameter, 
at  the  least,  projected  opposite  to  its  course.'  " 
I  quote  these,  to  give  you  some  notion  of  the 
appearance  of  this  meteor,  and  likewise  of  Mr. 
B.'s  diligence.  From  the  examination  of  all 
the  accounts  given  him,  he  came  to  the  conclu- 
sion, that  the  body  moved  at  the  rate  of  more 


116  MEMOIR    OF 

than  three  miles  per  second,  and  at  the  height 
of  eighteen  miles  above  the  surface  of  the  earth. 
With  regard  to  the  magnitude  of  the  body,  the 
results  were  less  accurate  ;  and  the  probability 
is,  that  all  the  body  did  not  fall,  but  merely 
passed  through  the  air,  and  continued  on  its 
course  into  unknown  regions  of  space. 

The  other  papers  1  shall  not  mention,  because 
they  are  upon  subjects  difficult  to  be  compre- 
hended. The  last  appeared  in  the  volumes  of 
the  Memoirs  of  the  Academy,  published  in 
1820.  All  these  papers  were  read  by  the  as- 
tronomers and  mathematicians  of  Europe,  and 
the  consequence  was,  that  he  was  chosen  a  mem- 
ber of  many  of  the  learned  societies  instituted 
there  for  the  promotion  of  science.  In  1818, 
he  was  chosen  member  of  the  Royal  Societies 
of  London  and  Edinburgh  ;  and,  in  the  year  fol- 
lowing, was  enrolled  on  the  list  of  the  Royal 
Irish  Academy.  While  I  am  upon  this  sub- 
ject, I  would  state,  that  he  afterwards  was 
elected  associate  of  the  Astronomical  Society  of 
London,  of  the  Academies  of  Berlin  and  Paler- 
mo, and  had  a  correspondence  with  most  of  the 
astronomers  of  Europe.  The  National  Insti- 
tute of  France  was  about  choosing  him  one  of 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCH.  117 

its   foreign  members,  only   eight   of  which  are 
chosen  from  the  whole  world,  when  he  died. 

In  addition  to  the  papers  to  the  Academy, 
Mr.  Bowditch  published  several  articles  in  re- 
views, &c.  One  of  them  is  an  interesting  his- 
tory of  modern  astronomy,  which  is  intended  to 
give  us  an  account  of  the  lives  and  doings  of 
the  most  celebrated  astronomers  of  modern 
times.  Such  were  the  principal  literary  labors 
of  JVlr.  Bowditch,  during:  his  residence  in  Salem. 

But  he  was  destined  soon  to  leave  Salem. 
In  1823,  overtures  were  made  to  him  to  control 
two  institutions  in  Boston,  one  for  Life  Insur- 
ance, the  other  for  Marine  risks.  The  offers 
were  too  liberal  for  him  to  refuse.  His  duties  to 
his  family  led  him  to  consent  to  do  what  nothing 
else  could.  On  his  determination  being  known, 
his  fellow-citizens  collected  together,  and  paid 
him  a  pleasant  tribute  of  respect  and  love,  by 
inviting  him  to  a  public  and  farewell  dinner. 

As  the  family  left  Salem,  Mr.  Bowditch  and 
his  wife  often  thought  that,  after  remaining  eight 
or  ten  years  at  Boston,  they  w^ould  return,  in 
order  that  their  bodies  might  be  laid  by  the  side 
of  those  of  their  ancestors.  But  new  friends 
awaited  them  in  Boston  ;  new  ties  were  formed 


118  MEMOIR    OF 

there  ;  and,  although  they  always  looked  to  their 
native  place  as  the  seat  of  many  of  their  most 
beloved  associations,  they  both  lived  in  Boston 
until  their  deaths. 

His  engagements  of  a  public  nature,  during 
his  residence  in  Boston,  were  similar  to  those  he 
had  whilst  at  Salem.  For  many  years  he  man- 
aged both  institutions.  But,  the  directors,  find- 
ing that  the  duties  of  one  were  sufficient  to 
occupy  all  his  attention,  broke  up  the  Marine 
Insurance  Company,  and  Mr.  Bow  ditch  (or  Dr. 
Bowditch,  as  he  was  now  generally  called,  hav- 
ing received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws  from 
Harvard  University  in  1816)  devoted  himself  to 
the  Life  Insurance  Office.  This  he  raised  to 
be  one  of  the  greatest  institutions  in  New  Eng- 
land. By  an  alteration  in  the  charter  proposed 
by  Dr.  Bowditch,  this  is  now  a  great  Savings 
Bank,  where  immense  sums  are  yearly  put  in 
trust,  for  widows  and  orphans.  The  only  differ- 
ence in  his  habits  caused  by  his  removal  to  Bos- 
ton, was  an  enlargement  of  his  sphere  of  labor. 
All  objects  of  public  utility  still  engaged  his 
attention. 

The  system  of  popular  lectures,  of  which 
we  have  now  so  many,  commenced  with  the 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCH.  119 

Mechanic  Institution,  of  which  he  was  the  first 
President.  He  was  zealous  for  the  improve- 
ment of  the  Boston  Athenaeum,  and  was  the 
means  of  getting  for  it  large  sums  of  money, 
and  of  making  it  more  liberal  to  the  public. 

An  honor  was  conferred  upon  him,  after  his 
arrival  in  Boston,  which  he  thought  the  greatest 
he  ever  had  attained.  Having  received  two 
honorary  degrees  from  Harvard  University,  and 
having  been  one  of  the  Board  of  Overseers  of 
that  Institution  for  many  years,  he  was  finally 
chosen  a  member  of  the  Corporation,  or  council 
of  seven  men,  who  guide  the  whole  of  the  con- 
cerns of  that  important  institution.  How  differ- 
ent the  commencement  and  termination  of  the 
career  of  the  poor  son  of  a  cooper,  who,  at 
ten  years  of  age,  left  school,  and  yet,  at  the  end 
of  life  was  one  of  the  chief  directors  in  the  first 
literary  institution  in  America  !  And  his  school- 
mates, who  laughed  at  him  for  his  poverty,  and 
thin,  coarse  dress,  where  were  they  ? 


J 20  MEIMOIR    OF 


CHAPTER   X. 

Sketch  of  the  Life  of  La  Place,  author  of  the  "  Mecanique 
Celeste  "  —  Newton's  labors.  —  Halley's  comet.  —  The 
importance  of  astronomy  to  navigation.  —  Comets:  Dr. 
Bowditch's  labors  upon  this  work  :  difficulties  attending 
the  undertaking  :  objects  he  had  in  view :  first  volume 
analysed  :  Newton's  error  pointed  out. 

In  a  former  part  of  this  story  of  his  life,  you 
will  remember  that  I  stated  tliat,  on  his  last 
voyage.  Dr.  Bowditch  commenced  his  notes 
upon  the  ^^  JMecanique  Celeste"  of  La  Place. 
It  was  on  the  first  day  of  IVovember,  during  his 
disagreeable  voyage  homewards,  in  1803,  that 
he  wrote  his  first  note  to  the  work  which  was 
destined  to  occupy  much  of  his  time  from  that 
moment  until  his  death,  thirty -five  years  after- 
wards, in  Boston.  This  work  certainly  deserves 
some  of  our  attention,  if  he  thought  it  worthy  of 
receiving  the  attention  of  so  many  years  of  his 
life.  A  brief  account  of  the  life  of  the  author 
of  the  original  work  may  interest  you,  and  will 
serve  as  an  introduction  to  the  book  itself. 

Pierre  Lucien  La  Place  was  born  on  the 
twenty-third  of  March,  1749,  at  Beaumont,  on 
the  borders  of  the  beautiful  and   fertile  country 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCII.  121 

of  ancient  Normandy,  situated  in  the  northwest- 
ern part  of  France.  He  was  the  son  of  simple 
peasants  in  that  country,  and,  from  liis  earliest 
years,  was  remarkable  for  the  extraordinary  pow- 
ers of  memory  and  intense  love  of  study  with 
which  he  was  endowed.  In  early  life  every 
branch  of  learnino;  was  delio-htful  to  him.  He 
seemed  eager  to  gain  knowledge  merely,  with- 
out regard  to  the  object  of  his  study.  But  he 
soon  began  to  distinguish  himself  upon  the  sub- 
ject of  theology.  This  pursuit,  however,  was 
soon  ended,  and,  by  some  means,  of  which  no 
details  now  remain,  his  mind  was  led  to  mathe- 
matics ;  and,  from  that  moment,  he  was  devoted 
to  them.  After  spending  his  youth  at  his  native 
place,  and  having  taught  mathematics  there,  he, 
at  the  age  of  eighteen  years,  went  to  Paris,  to 
seek  a  wider  sphere  of  knowledge.  Bearing 
several  letters  of  recommendation,  as  a  youth  of 
great  promiise,  he  presented  himself  at  the  abode 
of  D'Alembert,  who  at  that  time  was  the  first 
mathematician  of  France,  and  contended  with 
Euler,  at  Berlin,  for  the  honor  of  being  the  first 
in  the  world.  But  the  letters  upon  which  the 
youth  depended  so  much,  proved  of  no  avail. 
D'Alembert  passed  them  by  in  silent  neglect, 


122  MEMOIR    OF 

without  even  deigning  to  receive  at  his  own 
abode  the  bearer  of  them.  But  La  Place  was 
fully  bent  upon  success,  and,  relying  upon  the 
force  of  his  own  genius  as  a  more  powerful  re- 
commendation than  any  letters,  he  sent  to  D' 
Alembert  an  essay,  written  by  himself,  upon  a 
very  abstruse  subject,  relating  to  mechanics. 
The  Professor,  struck  with  its  elegance  and 
deep  learning,  immediately  called  upon  the 
writer,  and  addressed  him  in  these  words  : 
"  You  see,  sir,  that  I  think  recommendations 
are  worth  but  very  little,  and  for  yourself  they 
are  wholly  unnecessary.  By  your  own  writings 
you  can  make  yourself  better  known  than  by 
any  other  means.  They  are  sufficient.  I  will 
do  all  I  can  for  you."  In  a  few  days  after  this 
conversation,  the  young  man  was  appointed  pro- 
fessor of  mathematics  in  the  public  military 
school,  at  the  capital  of  France.  From  this 
period,  until  the  end  of  his  life,  he  was  occupied 
upon  the  science  which  he  was  called  at  this 
early  age  to  teach  publicly  at  Paris.  He  be- 
came daily  more  acquainted  with  the  great  men 
of  the  nation,  and  was  himself  making  additions 
to  the  scientific  acquirements  of  the  age,  thus 
giving  eminent  proofs  of  his  activity  of  mind.    He 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCH.  123 

was  a  member  of  the  French  Academy,  or  soci- 
ety of  learned  men,  united  for  the  purpose  of 
advancing  the  cause  of  learning,  and  he  stood 
soon  very  high  amongst  them. 

His  chief  work,  the  ''  Celestial  Mechanics,'' 
(*^  Mecanique  Celeste,")  he  began  to  publish  in 
1799,  and  finished  the  fourth  volume  in  1805. 
This  placed  him  much  above  all  his  contempora- 
ries ;  for  in  it  he  had  not  only  combined  many 
things  which  he  himself  had  discovered,  but  like- 
wise gave  a  history,  as  it  were,  of  all  that  had 
been  done  by  geometricians  from  the  time  of 
Sir  Isaac  Newton  until  his  own  day.  La  Place 
found  many  things,  detached,  but  his  genius 
proved  that  many  apparently  discordant  facts 
could  be  explained  by  Newton's  theory  of  uni- 
versal gravitation.  His  labor  must  have  been 
immense.  All  Europe  rung  with  the  fame  of 
this  production,  which  was  said  to  be  beyond 
any  thing  ever  performed  before  by  man.  The 
echo  of  its  fame  reached  America,  and  Mr. 
Bowditch  sought  for  the  volumes,  as  they  were 
successively  published.  The  first  two  he  re- 
ceiv^ed  in  part  payment  of  his  labor  on  the 
*^  Navipjator." 


124  MEMOIR    OF 

Soon  after  his  arriv^al  home  from  his  fourth 
voyage,  Dr.  Bowditch  was  taking  his  accustom- 
ed walk  towards  the  lower  part  of  the  town  of 
Salem  and  met  his  old  friend,  Captain  Prince. 
They  entered  into  conversation,  and  Dr.  B.  re- 
marked that  he  had,  a  short  time  before,  receiv- 
ed a  book  from  France,  which  he  had  longed  to 
obtain,  having  heard  that  it  was  superior  to  any 
thing  ever  before  written  by  man,  and  which 
very  few  were  able  to  comprehend.  This  work 
was  that  which  now  renders  his  own  name  famil- 
iarly known  among  the  great  men  of  the  earth. 

Later  in  life,  La  Place  published  a  work, 
called  the  '^  System  of  the  World."  In  this, 
which  comparatively  speaking,  is  not  difficult 
to  be  read  by  almost  any  one,  he  attempts  to 
give  a  plain  and  simple  statement  of  all  that  is 
known  in  regard  to  those  wise  and  magnificent 
laws  V.  hereby  this  solar  system  is  kept  together 
in  perfect  harmony,  while  at  the  same  time  it  is 
sailing  onward  through  fields  of  space. 

Ld  Place,  liowever,  was  not  a  truly  great 
man,  because  he  was  not  just ;  he  was  willing 
to  attribute  to  himself  the  discoveries  of  others. 
Moreover,  there  was  none  of  the  sweetness  of 
humility  about  him.    On  Napoleon  Bonaparte's 


NATHANIEL   BOWDITCH.  125 

becoming  First  Consul  in  France,  La  Place 
was  niade  one  of  the  ministers  of  the  state  ;  but 
he  was  found  to  be  unfit  for  the  office,  and  re- 
tired after  a  few  weeks'  service,  but  was  made 
a  member  of  the  Senate,  of  which  he  became 
President,  After  finishing  his  political  career, 
he  published  other  works  of  great  moment,  but 
of  those  I  shall  not  speak.  About  the  year 
1827,  he  was  seized  with  an  acute  disorder, 
which  soon  terminated  his  life.  His  last  words 
are  remarkable,  as  conveying  the  same  truth 
that  every  wise  man  has  upon  his  lips  at  the 
hour  of  death.  As  he  reviewed  the  amount 
of  his  learning,  which  was  in  one  respect  greater 
than  that  of  any  man  living,  he  exclaimed, 
"  What  we  know  here  is  very  little,  but  what 
we  are  ignorant  of  is  immense."  Every  man  is 
compelled  to  become  silent  and  modest,  as  he 
sees  death  approach.  La  Place  was  like  other 
common  men.  He  died  as  a  man,  and  was 
buried,  and  the  men  of  science  felt  sad,  that  one 
so  learned,  and  of  so  strong  an  intellect,  should 
have  departed ;  yet,  alas,  that  we  should  say, 
few  loved  him.  I  have  already  stated  that  the 
reason  of  it  was,  his  low  ambition.  Endowed 
by  the  Almighty  with  the  loftiest  powers  of  in- 


126  MEMOIR   OF 

tellect,  he  stood  alone,  and  commanded  the  re- 
spect of  his  associates  ;  but,  instead  of  using  his 
intellect  always  nobly,  he  suffered  his  soul  to  be 
degraded  by  a  love  of  paltry  show,  and  with  the 
gratification  of  a  merely  selfish  vanity,  to  gain 
which,  he  was  at  times  guilty  of  injustice  to 
others.  Dr.  Bowditch,  though  he  regarded  La 
Place  as  the  greatest  mathematician  that  had 
ever  lived,  had  little  real  sympathy  with  his 
character. 

We  must  now  undertake  to  give  you  a  short 
account  of  the  ^^  Mecanique  Celeste,"  and  of 
Dr.  Bowditch's  labors  upon  it.  The  original 
work  consists  of  five  volumes,  but  Dr.  Bowditch 
lived  to  complete  the  translation  of,  and  com- 
mentary upon,  only  the  first  four.  There  are 
about  fifteen  hundred  pages  in  the  original, 
while  there  are  three  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
eighteen  in  the  American  translation.  The  ob- 
ject of  the  original  work  may  be  known  from  the 
following  introductory  remarks  by  the  author,  on 
the  occasion  of  printing  the  first  volume,  in 
1798  :  ''  Newton,  towards  the  end  of  the  last 
century,  published  his  discovery  of  the  laws  of 
gravity,  or  of  the  power  by  which  the  solar  sys- 
tem is  held  together.     Since  that  period,  geom- 


NATHANIEL   BOWDITCH.  127 

etricians  have  succeeded  in  bringing  under  this 
law  all  the  known  phenomena  of  the  system  of 
the  universe.  I  mean  to  brino;  together  those 
scattered  themes  and  facts  upon  this  subject,  so 
as  to  form  one  whole,  which  shall  embrace  all 
the  known  results  of  gravity  upon  the  motions, 
forms,  &ic.,  of  the  fluid  and  solid  bodies  that 
compose  our  solar  system,  as  well  as  of  those 
other  similar  systems  that  are  spread  around  in 
the  immensity  of  space."  You  probably  all  un- 
derstand from  this  quotation  the  general  object 
of  the  ''  Mecanique  Celeste."  La  Place  like- 
wise informs  us,  that  the  work  is  divided  into 
two  parts.  In  the  first,  he  proposes  to  give  the 
methods  for  determining  the  motions  of  the 
heavenly  bodies,  their  forms,  the  motions  of  the 
oceans  and  seas  upon  their  surfaces,  and  finally, 
the  movements  of  rotation  of  these  spheres  about 
their  own  axis.  In  the  second  part,  he  prom- 
ises to  apply  the  rules  which  he  has  discovered 
in  the  first,  to  the  planets  and  the  satellites 
which  move  around  them,  and  likewise  to  the 
comets.  The  first  part  is  found  in  the  first  two 
volumes,  the  second  part  occupies  the  two  last. 
From  these  few  remarks,  you  will  perceive  the 
immense    task   imposed  upon    himself  by  La 


128  MEMOIR    OF 

Place,  and  at  the  same  time  the  grandeur  of  it. 
How  wonderful,  that  a  simple  man  dares  at- 
tempt to  mark  out  the  course  of  the  bright  lumi- 
naries of  heaven,  which  we  see  ciusterini{  around 
us  at  night !  But  how  much  more  wonderful 
does  man  become,  when  we  perceive  that  he  has 
the  ])ower  to  foretell  to  us  the  return  of  comets, 
that  have  never  been  seen  by  any  one  hving 
now;  comets,  that  have  been,  during  our  lives, 
travelling  into  the  far-off  fields  of  space  !  Strange, 
that  a  simple  man  can  prophesy,  to  a  day,  their 
return  !  Many  of  you  doubtless  remember  a 
beautifully  bright  and  clear  comet,  which  a  few 
years  ago  appeared,  as  had  been  predicted,  after 
an  absence  of  seventy-six  years.  It  is  called 
H alley's  comet,  after  its  first  discoverer.  At 
first,  it  seemed  like  a  bright  s|>eck  in  the  heavens 
towards  the  north  ;  but  the  next  night  it  was 
larger.  It  seemed  to  approach  with  fearful  ra- 
pidity, from  evening  to  evening,  and,  sweeping 
in  majesty  across  our  western  sky,  disappeared 
gradually  in  its  progress  towards  the  sun,  around 
which  it  whirled,  and  again  appeared,  more 
faintly  visible  than  before,  just  over  our  eastern 
horizon,  as  if  to  give  us  one  more  glin^pse  of  it- 
self, a  strange  messenger  of  the  Almighty,  before 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCH.  129 

it  passed  off  on  its  far-distant  journey,  not  to  re- 
turn, until  we,  who  are  now  young  and  free  as 
air,  are  all  laid  quietly  in  the  grave,  or  have  be- 
come enfeebled  and  decrepid  by  the  approach  of 
age.  Truly,  great  is  God,  who  made  the  comet ; 
but  to  me,  man  also  seems  full  of  grandeur,  when 
I  find  him  capable  of  even  foretelling  the  exact 
passage  of  such  a  body.  Yet  La  Place  enables 
any  man  to  prophesy  thus  ;  and  in  his  '^  Mecan- 
ique  Celeste"  may  you  find  all  the  elements 
necessary  for  this  object.  But  he  likewise  tells 
us  the  forms  of  the  planets ;  he  enables  us  to 
measure  the  ring  which  surrounds  the  planet 
Saturn,  and  even  the  form  of  the  atmosphere 
surrounding  the  sun.  In  this  same  work  he  treats 
of  those  curious  phenomena,  which,  as  we  see 
them  daily,  we  think  of  httle  moment,  the  flow 
and  ebb  of  the  sea,  or,  in  other  words,  high  and 
low  tides,  and  the  causes  of  them.  He  treats  of 
the  motion  of  the  earth  about  its  centre,  and  the 
same  motions  in  the  moon  and  planets.  These 
are  the  chief  objects  of  the  first  and  second  vol- 
umes. The  third  volume,  as  we  have  already 
hinted,  contains  questions  of  great  intricacy,  and 
of  immense  importance  ;  namely,  the  exact  mo- 
tions of  the  planets  around  the  sun,  as  affected 
9 


130  MEMOIR    OF 

by  all  the  attractions  exerted  upon  them  by  the 
various  bodies  of  the  universe;  and  the  still 
more  important  motions  of  our  moon  around 
the  earth  ;  I  say  important,  because  the  exact 
knowledge  of  the  course  of  this  body  is  of  the 
greatest  moment  to  every  seaman  who  attempts 
to  go  from  one  country  to  another,  over  the  track- 
less ocean.  By  means  of  observations  upon  this 
planet,  the  sailor  can  sail  over  distant  seas  for 
many  months,  and  be  able  to  return,  when  he 
may  wish,  to  his  own  home,  in  safety.  Hence 
the  importance  of  the  astronomer  to  the  sim- 
ple navigator  of  our  planet.  The  history  of 
Dr.  Bowditch  is  another  proof  of  the  truth  of 
this  statement.  By  his  accurate  knowledge  of 
astronomy,  by  his  ability  to  follow  La  Place,  in 
his  investigations  of  all  the  motions  of  the  solar 
system,  he  was  enabled  to  produce  a  work  on 
navigation  which  is  sought  for  all  over  the  world  ; 
as  it  combines  the  best  methods  of  using  the  re- 
sults of  pure  astronomy  in  the  art  of  navigation. 
The  "  Practical  Navigator  "  would  never  have 
maintained  its  hold  upon  the  community  as  it 
has  done,  if  Dr.  Bowditch  had  not  been  as  skil- 
ful in  mathematics  and  astronomy  as  in  the  de- 
tails of  navigation. 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCH.  131 

But  to  return  to  the  ''  Mecanique  Celeste." 
The  fourth  volume  contahis  similar  investiga- 
tions, namely,  the  motions  of  the  satellites,  or 
moons,  about  the  other  planets.  Of  these,  Ju- 
piter's are  the  most  interesting,  after  that  of  the 
earth,  or  the  moon.  There  are  four  of  them. 
These  were  the  first  that  the  invention  of  the 
telescope,  by  Galileo,  revealed  to  man  ;  and, 
by  their  frequent  revolutions  around  the  planet, 
they  have  in  their  turn  shown  to  us  many  of  the 
laws,  which  govern  the  whole  planetary  system, 
besides  many  curious  and  interesting  facts  in  re- 
gard to  their  own  forms  and  masses.  From  the 
eclipses  or  disappearances  of  the  first  satellite, 
when  it  passes  on  the  side  of  the  planet  opposite 
to  that  at  which  the  observer  from  the  earth  is 
looking,  it  has  demonstrated  the  velocity  of  light. 
Finally,  the  author  treats  of  the  seven  moons, 
or  satellites,  of  Saturn,  and  likewise  of  the  planet 
Herschel,  about  which  much  less  is  known. 

After  attending  to  these  subjects.  La  Place 
investigates  the  powers  which  act  upon  comets, 
which  tend  to  turn  from  their  courses  those  bod- 
ies, which,  as  1  have  before  said,  are  flying  hi 
very  many  directions  throughout  the  universe, 
and  which  are  hable  to  be  moved  out  of  their 


132  MEMOIR   OF 

direction  by  the  actions  of  some  planets  near 
which  they  may  come.  This  was  the  case  with 
a  comet  in  1770,  whose  course  was  wholly 
changed  by  the  planet  Jupiter  drawing  it  tow- 
ards its  own  body.  To  investigate  the  various 
laws  of  these  disturbing  forces  is  one  object  of 
this  volume.  Some  other  subjects  are  treated 
of;  but  of  these  I  shall  now  not  speak. 

From  this  brief  account  of  the  "  Mecanique 
Celeste,"  you  may  judge  of  the  difSculties  which 
the  original  writer  had  to  overcome,  in  making 
it,  and  of  the  immense  labor  requisite.  But  La 
Place  frequently  supposes  that  a  proposition  is 
perfectly  intelligible  to  his  reader,  because  it  is 
so  to  him*  Having  such  a  superior  intellect,  he 
is  able  to  see  that  at  a  glance  for  which  any  one 
else  would  require  a  long  demonstration,  before 
he  could  become  thoroughly  master  of  the  sub- 
ject. The  consequence  of  this  is,  an  obscurity 
in  the  work,  which  has  made  it  doubly  difficult 
of  comprehension.  Several  years  ago,  but  a 
long  time  after  Dr.  Bowditch  had  read  and 
made  notes  upon  the  whole  work,  an  English 
writer  said,  that  there  were  scarcely  twelve  men 
in  Europe  capable  of  comprehending  it.  Dr. 
Bowditch,  feeling  that  it  was  the  most  impor- 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCH.  133 

tant  work  upon  astronomy  ever  published,  had 
undertaken  the  translation  of  it,  and  had  made 
notes  thereupon,  for  the  purpose  of  ''  amusing 
his  leisure  hours  ;  "  and  upon  its  being  known 
that  he  had  finished  the  task,  the  American 
Academy  proposed  to  publish  it  at  its  own  ex- 
pense ;  but  Dr.  Bowditch  would  not  allow  this, 
and  reserved  the  publication  until  he  was  able 
to  bring  it  forth  with  his  own  property.  But 
let  us  see,  now,  what  service  Dr.  B.  intended 
to  perform  by  his  translation  and  commentary.. 
His  first  object  was  to  lay  before  America  the 
greatest  work  on  the  science  of  astronomy  ever 
published.  Secondly,  his  aim  was  to  bring  that 
work  down  to  the  comprehension  of  young  men 
and  students  of  mathematics,  by  filling  up  those 
places  left  by  La  Place  without  demonstration. 
Thirdly,  he  meant  to  give  the  history  of  the 
science  of  astronomy  for  the  last  thirty  years. 
Fourthly,  he  wished  to  collect  together  all  the 
discoveries  which  he  had  made  during  the  forty 
years  of  his  life  that  he  had  devoted  to  science. 
His  first  aim  was  gained  by  the  Translation. 
His  second  was  completely  successful,  for  he  was 
assured  by  correspondents,  both  in  America  and 
Europe,  that  he  had  enabled  several  to  read  the 


134  MEMOIR    OF 

immortal  work  of  La  Place,  who  never  would 
have  done  so,  had  not  Dr.  B.  published  his 
Commentary.  The  Royal  Astronomer  at  Pa- 
lermo says,  in  a  printed  work,  published  after 
the  first  two  volumes  of  the  Translation  had 
reached  him,  '^  Bowditch's  Commentary  should 
be  translated  into  Italian  ;  "  and  Lacroix,  a  cele- 
brated French  mathematician,  advised  a  young 
Swiss  to  read  La  Place  in  the  American  edi- 
tion, rather  than  in  the  original.  But  what 
pleased  the  commentator  more  than  any  thing 
else,  were  the  frequent  letters  from  young  men 
residing  in  various  parts  of  America,  expressing 
gratitude  for  the  benefits  they  had  received  from 
his  work.  When  1  think  of  these,  I  am  re- 
minded of  the  epithet  bestowed  upon  Dr.  Bow- 
ditch  since  his  death,  and  by  one  well  capable 
of  judging,  namely, ''  Father  of  American  Mathe- 
matics." He  has  given  a  tone  to  the  study  of 
science,  which  will  be  long  felt. 

In  regard  to  the  third  object,  all  critics  allow 
that  he  was  eminently  successful  in  giving  the 
history  of  science  up  to  the  present  time. 

Upon  the  fourth  point,  we  might  refer,  first, 
to  the  immense  increase  of  bulk  of  the  work,  as 
a  proof,  but  1  prefer  to  mention  a  few  details  ; 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCH.  135 

and  in  order  to  this,  let  us  examine  the  Commen- 
tary, and  let  it  speak  for  itself.  But  it  must  be 
remembered,  that,  in  making  this  examination, 
I  must  omit  many  circumstances,  because  you 
would  not  understand  or  feel  interested  in  any 
greater  detail. 

In  the  first  volume,  he  points  out  two  errors 
of  La  Place,  one  of  which  relates  to  the  motion 
of  the  earth  ;  and  the  other  is  of  much  impor- 
tance. It  relates  to  the  permanency  of  our  solar 
system,  as  it  is  commonly  called.  You  all 
doubtless  know,  that  the  sun  is  situated  in  the 
centre,  and  the  planets,  with  our  earth,  revolve 
around  this  luminary,  which  gives  light  and  heat 
to  all.  Now,  these  bodies  revolve  in  certain 
fixed  '^  nearly  circular  "  directions,  and  La  Place 
thought  that  they  would  always  continue  to  do 
so,  and  that  Mercury,  Venus,  the  Earth,  Mars, 
Jupiter,  Saturn,  and  Herschel,  v/ould  for  ever 
continue  to  wheel  around  in  their  accustomed 
orbits.  Dr.  Bowditch  proves,  however,  that, 
though  this  may  be  true  of  the  three  larger  plan- 
ets, Jupiter,  Saturn,  andHerschel,it  is  not  equally 
certain, /ro/Ti  the  yr oofs  given  by  La  Place,  that 
our  earth,  or  any  of  the  other  smaller  planets, 
may  not  fly  off  into  regions  far  remote  from  those 


136  MEMOIR    OF 

in  which  they  have  been  revolving  for  ages. 
This  error  had  been  made  the  subject  of  a  pa- 
per to  the  American  Academy  at  an  earlier  pe- 
riod of  his  life.  Bat  it  must  not  be  supposed 
that  there  is  any  proof  that  the  solar  system  will 
not  continue  to  exist  for  many  long  ages.  On 
the  contrary,  there  is  no  doubt  that  it  will  last 
millions  of  years.  Dr.  Bowditch  merely  wished 
to  assert  that  La  Place's  argument  and  calcula- 
tion did  not  prove  as  much  as  the  French  m.athe- 
matician  thought  they  did.  In  this  volume  Dr. 
Bowditch  likewise  alludes  to  a  topic  which  he 
had  made  the  subject  of  a  communication,  a 
long  time  previously,  to  the  American  Acade- 
my;  I  refer  to  a  mistake  in  Newton's  ^' Prin- 
cipia,"  which  he  discovered  when  quite  young, 
and  had  sent  an  account  of  to  the  President  of 
Harvard  College.  This  gentleman  transferred 
the  question  to  the  Professor  of  Mathematics, 
who  believed  the  youth  was  mistaken.  Doubt- 
less, he  thought  it  very  strange  that  a  simple 
youth  should  presume  to  correct  any  thing  pub- 
lished by  so  eminent  a  man  as  Newton.  The 
error  of  the  Professor  will  become  less  singular, 
when  you  learn  that  the  same  mistake  escaped 
the  notice  of  all  the  commentators  on  the  "  Prin* 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCH.  137 

cipia,"  that  is,  for  more  than  a  century ;  and 
that  the  cause  of  the  original  communication 
being  made  to  the  Academy  was  the  attempt  of 
Mr.  Emerson,  an  Englishman,  to  prove  the  cor- 
rectness of  the  English  Philosopher.  Every 
one,  I  believe,  now  allows  that  Dr.  Bowditch 
was  correct,  and  that  a  considerable  error 
would  result,  in  calculating  the  orbit  of  a  comet, 
in  using  Newton's  calculations. 


138  MEMOIR   OF 


CHAPTER  XI. 

Commentary  continued  :  second  volume.  —  Discussion  be- 
tween the  English  and  French  Mathematicians  :  Dr.  B.'s 
criticisms.  —  Errors  in  La  Place,  in  regard  to  the  earth, 
&c.  —  Third  volume:  motions  of  the  moon. — Fourth 
volume  :  many  errors  discovered  in  it.  —  Halley's  Com- 
et. —  Curious  phenomena  of  capillary  attraction. 

In  the  second  volume  of  the  Commentary, 
Dr.  Bowditch  makes  very  copious  notes,  in 
which  he  shews  a  perfect  knowledge  of  the  works 
of  the  chief  mathematicians  of  Europe.  He 
stands  as  critic  between  two  of  the  most  power- 
ful of  the  age  ;  Messrs.  Ivory  and  Poisson  ;  the 
former  an  Englishman,  the  latter  a  Frenchman, 
and  in  reference,  likewise,  to  a  difficult  subject 
namely,  the  revolution  or  the  turning  of  it  upon 
its  own  axis,  as  our  earth  does,  of  a  fluid  mass. 
He  not  merely  agrees  with  Mr.  Poisson,  but,  by 
a  very  simple  illustration,  proves  the  total  inac- 
curacy of  Mr.  Ivory's  views.  I  well  remember 
the  earnestness  with  which  he  studied  this  sub- 
ject. Day  after  day,  he  returned  to  the  task  of 
finding  out  some  "simple  case,"  with  which  to 
prove  to  the  satisfaction  of  others  the  truth  of  his 
own  view.     At  length,  when  he  did  discover  it, 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCH.  139 

he  jumped  up  in  ecstacy,  and,  rubbing  his  hands 
and  forehead  with  dehght,  exclaimed,  '^  I  have 
got  it !" 

Dr.  Bowditch  in  this  vohame  points  out  five 
errors  or  omissions  made  by  La  Place,  some  of 
which  are  very  serious.  One  refers  to  the 
form  of  our  earth,  and  had  been  previously  com- 
municated to  the  Academy.  There  is  another, 
of  some  moment,  relative  to  the  time  occupied  in 
the  revolution  of  one  of  Saturn's  rings,  La  Place 
having  made  it  longer  than  was  true. 

Finally,  on  the  subject  of  the  motion  of  the 
earth  about  its  centre  of  gravity,  he  points  out 
an  error,  in  which  La  Place  gives  to  two  num^ 
bers  only  one  third  of  their  true  value. 

In  the  third  volume,  occupied  as  it  is  with  the 
motions  of  the  planets  and  of  the  moon,  and  with 
all  the  phenomena  accompanying  these.  Dr. 
Bowditch  shows  much  learning,  and  his  power 
of  bringing  together  all  modern  science.  As  in 
the  previous  volume,  he  labors  without  fear  upon 
subjects  treated  of  with  much  earnestness  by  La 
Place,  Poisson,  and  Pontecoulant,  in  France,  and 
Plana  in  Italy. 

On  the  theory  of  the  motions  of  the  moon,  a 
very  difficult  and   interesting  subject,  Dr.  B. 


140  MEMOIR    OF 

makes  very  copious  notes,  and  the  volume  termi- 
nates with  an  appendix  of  more  than  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  pages,  in  which  he  gives  the  histo- 
ry of  modern  astronomy,  in  reference  to  the 
calculations  of  the  movements  of  planets  and  com- 
ets. In  this,  he  speaks  of  Doctor  Olbers  and  M. 
Gauss.  The  former,  from  having  discovered  three 
planets  since  eighteen  hundred,  is  called  *^  the 
fortunate  Columbus  of  the  Heavens."  The  lat- 
ter is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  men  in  the 
world,  for  the  rapidity  with  which  he  is  able  to 
perform  the  most  tedious  and  troublesome  calcu- 
lations. 

We  come  now  to  the  last  volume,  in  printing 
the  thousandth  page  of  which,  he  died.  It  was 
the  most  difficult  to  him  of  the  whole,  and  prob- 
ably will  raise  him  higher  in  the  estimation  of 
the  scientific  world,  than  either  of  the  others.  In 
the  first  place,  I  w^ould  remark,  that,  either  from 
the  difficulty  of  the  subject,  or  from  the  inatten- 
tion of  La  Place,  an  unusual  number  of  errors 
was  discovered.  No  less  than  twenty -four  errors 
or  omissions  are  pointed  out.  Many  of  these  seem 
insignificant,  but  often,  as  may  be  supposed,  they 
materially  affect  the  calculation.  Most  of  them 
refer  to  the  deran elements  and  the  motions  of  Ju- 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCH.  141 

piter's  satellites,  a  subject  which  occupies  three 
hundred  and  fourteen  pa^^c  s  of  the  volume.  The 
keenness  of  his  criticism  is  again  perceived  upon 
a  subject  in  dispute  between  Plana  and  La  Place, 
and  Dr.  B.  points  out  one  mistake,  and  Poisson, 
another,  whereby  Mr.  PI  ana's  views  are  proved 
lo  coincide  entirely  w.th  Li  Place's,  instead  of 
being  opposed  to  them. 

I  find  a  note  upon  Halley's  comet,  to  which 
I  alluded,  as  presenting  a  grand  spectacle  in  our 
western  sky,  a  few  years  since,  and  I  cannot  for- 
bear mentioning  the  coinc'dence.  Di.  Bow- 
ditch,  when  making  his  notes  upon  the  subject 
of  the  motions  and  revolutions  of  comets,  speaks 
of  Halley's  comet,  and  mentions  all  that  is  known 
about  it,  and  its  probable  appearance.  This 
note  was  prepared  some  time  before  it  was  print- 
ed. It  terminates  thus  :  ''  Since  writing  the  pre- 
ceding part  of  this  note,  the  comet  has  again  ap- 
peared, and,  at  the  time  of 'printing  this  page, 
is  visible  in  the  heavens,  not  far  distant  from  the 
place  corresponding  to  the  elements  of  Mr.  Pon- 
lecoulant." 

The  work,  so  far  as  Dr.  B.  is  concerned,  fin- 
ishes with  the  most  curious  and  difficult  subject 
of  capillary  attraction,  or  that  power  whereby  a 


142  MEMOIR    OF 

liquid  arises  in  narrow  tubes  beyond  the  level  of 
the  fluid  outside,  as  we  see  familiarly  in  sponges, 
and  cloths,  and  hollow  pieces  of  glass.  You  may 
think  this  subject  of  little  moment ;  yet  La  Place 
thought  it  more  curious  than  almost  any  other, 
and  he  calls  the  attention  of  mathematicians  to 
it,  with  much  earnestness.  You  would  scarcely 
suppose  that  the  dewdrop,  that  glitters  on  the 
grass  in  the  mornino;,  would  suoro-est  ideas  to  the 
philosopher  about  the  formation  of  a  planet :  yet 
so  it  is.  The  same  laws,  which  govern  the  gath- 
ering together  of  the  bright  drops  of  water,  have 
bound  together  the  particles  of  our  earth.  Of 
course,  such  a  subject  would  call  forth  the  best 
minds.  After  La  Place,  came  Gauss,  whose 
results  were  similar  to  those  of  La  Place.  But, 
in  1831,  Mr,  Poisson,  the  first  mathematician 
now  hving,^  of  whom  we  have  already  spoken 
frequently,  put  forth  a  work,  wherein  he  pretends 
to  have  produced  many  new  views  on  the  sub- 
ject, by  taking  into  consideration  certain  particu- 
lars which  La  Place  did  not.  Dr.  Bowditch  re- 
ceived this  work  while  engaged  in  printing  this 
volume.  He  ceased  printing,  and  devoted  six 
months  or  more  to  a  thorough  perusal  of  the  new 

*  Since  this  was  written  Poisson  has  died. 


NATHANIEL   BOWDITCPI.  143 

French  work  ;  and  the  result  has  been,  that  he 
has  proved  that,  whhout  an  exception,  unless 
where  an  evident  error  was  made  by  La  Place, 
the  principles  of  this  mathematician,  when  fairly 
carried  out,  would  produce  all  the  results  which 
Mons.  Poisson  has  given  as  new  in  his  work  ; 
thereby,  in  fact,  putting  aside  entirely  the  new 
theory  of  capillary  attraction,  brought  forward  by 
the  hving  philosopher.  This  is  decidedly  the 
most  important  part  of  the  work,  so  far  as  Dr. 
Bowditch  is  concerned.  It  places  him  much 
higher  than  before  in  the  scale  of  mathematical 
rank. 

1  would  willingly  give  a  further  analysis,  but 
I  forbear,  because  it  would  not  be  interesting  to 
you.  It  was  in  correcting  this,  his  noblest  task, 
in  the  plenitude  of  his  strength  of  intellect,  that 
he  was  destined  to  die. 


144  MEMOIR   OF 


CHAPTER    XII. 


Sketch  of  the  Hfe  of  La  Grange,  the  equal  of  La  Place : 
love  Dr.  B.  had  for  this  person's  character :  comparison 
between  him  and  La  Place  :  also  between  him  and  Dr. 
Bowditch.  —  Conclusion  of  the  Memoir. 

During  this  history,  I  frequently  have 
spoken  of  different  individuals ;  but  there  is 
one,  about  whom  little  mention  has  been 
made,  but  of  whose  life  I  wish  to  give  you  a 
short  history,  as  his  character  resembles  very 
much  that  of  Dr.  Bowditch.  His  mind  and 
heart  were  always  regarded  by  the  American 
mathematician  with  feelings  of  respect  and  lovcj 
such  as  he  felt  towards  no  other  philosopher. 
An  equal,  too,  of  La  Place,  it  seems  not  im- 
proper to  mention  him,  and  I  know  you  will 
excuse  the  slight  interruption  in  my  story,  when 
you  perceive  how  this  lofty  nature  of  La  Grange 
seems  to  harmonize  with  and  to  illustrate  as  it 
were  the  life  of  Dr.  Bowditch. 

Joseph  Louis  La  Grange,  one  of  the  most 
famous  geometricians  of  modern  times,  was  bom 
at  Turin,  January  25,  1736.  He  was  one  of 
eleven  children  of  parents  who  became  very 


1 


NATHANIEL  BOWDITCH.  14S 

poor,  SO  that  Joseph  had  in  early  hfe  to  gain  his 
own  subsistence.  When  young,  he  devoted  him- 
self to  the  classics,  and  read  Latin  constantly. 
At  seventeen  his  taste  for  abstruse  mathematics 
first  showed  itself,  and  from  this  period  he  con- 
tinued studying  by  himself,  without  aid,  and  in 
two  years  he  had  acquired  a  knowledge  of  all 
that  was  known  upon  the  science,  and  began  to 
correspond  with  the  geometricians  of  other  lands. 
In  1755,  he  sent  to  Euler,  then  the  greatest  in 
the  world,  and  residing  in  Berlin,  an  answer  to 
a  problem  proposed  by  Euler,  ten  years  before, 
to  the  learned  men  of  Europe,  and  which  they 
had  been  unable  to  solve.  Meanwhile,  he  was 
appointed  Professor  of  Mathematics  at  Turin, 
at  the  age  of  nineteen  years,  and  soon  after- 
wards originated  the  academy  of  sciences  at  that 
place ;  and  in  their  Memoirs  he  published  pa- 
pers, in  which  he  not  merely  criticised  Euler  and 
D'Alembert,  and  others  but  brought  forward 
some  very  curious  new  views  of  science,  discov- 
ered by  himself.  Europe  soon  resounded  with 
his  praises,  and  he  was  chosen  member  of  all 
the  learned  societies.  In  1766,  he  was  called 
to  the  Court  of  Frederick  the  Great,  of  Prussia, 
to  take  the  place  of  Euler,  who  was  summoned 
10 


146  MEMOIR    OF 

by  the  Emperor  of  Russia  to  St.  Petersburg. 
Frederick  wrote  to  him  thus  :  '^  Come  to  my 
Court,  for  it  is  right  that  the  greatest  mathemati- 
cian in  Europe  should  be  near  the  greatest  king/' 
He  remained  there  until  Frederick  died,  and  soon 
after  that  he  was  invited  by  the  French  govern- 
ment to  come  to  Paris.  From  this  time,  with 
slight  interruptions,  his  fame  continued  to  in- 
crease, and  every  one  delighted  to  honor  him ; 
for  his  labors  did  honor  to  his  adopted  country. 
One  of  the  most  beautiful  compliments,  perhaps, 
ever  paid  to  man,  was  the  message  sent  by  the 
French  government  to  the  venerable  father  of 
La  Grange,  at  Piedmont,  when  that  country 
fell  by  a  revolution,  under  French  influence. 
*^  Go,"  said  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  to 
his  ambassador,  *'  go  to  the  venerable  father  of 
the  illustrious  La  Grange,  and  say  to  him,  that, 
after  the  events  that  have  just  taken  place,  the 
French  Government  look  to  him  as  the  first  ob- 
ject of  their  interest."  The  answ^er  of  the  old 
man  was  touching  :  "  This  day  is  the  happiest 
of  my  life,  and  my  son  is  the  cause  of  it !  "  And 
thrice  blessed  must  be  such  a  son  !  for  he  fills 
the  last  hours  of  his  father's  life  with  peace. 
When  Bonaparte  came  into  power,  new  honors 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCH.  147 

were  showered  upon  him.  But  what  was  it  that 
charmed  Dr.  Bowditch,  in  the  character  of  La 
Grange  ?  It  was  the  combination  of  a  giant  in- 
tellect with  extreme  modesty  and  simplicity,  a 
sincere  love  of  truth,  and  almost  feminine  afTec- 
tions.  He  was  a  pure  being,  whose  intellect 
equalled  La  Place's,  but  who  at  the  same  time 
was  full  of  the  utmost  gentleness  and  strict  jus- 
tice. He  was  at  Berlin  during  the  earlier  part 
of  La  Place's  career  in  Paris.  In  after-life,  the 
two  were  friends.  Both  were  great  geniuses ; 
both  were  capable  of  the  highest  flights  of 
thought,  and  of  bringing  down  to  the  compre- 
hension of  mankind  the  vast  and  wise  laws  im- 
pressed by  God  on  the  system  of  the  universe. 
But  La  Place  soiled  his  reputation  by  trifling 
political  ambition.  La  Grange  stood  aside, 
quiet  and  pleased  with  his  own  high  thoughts ; 
yet,  if  his  fellows  wished  him  to  take  upon  him- 
self any  public  duties,  he  took  them  cheerfully, 
and  as  cheerfully  resigned  them.  La  Place 
courted  honors  ;  La  Grange  meekly  received 
them.  La  Place  had  few  to  love  him,  for  he 
stripped  others  of  the  fruits  of  their  labors,  to 
cover  himself  with  their  glory ;  but  in  the  heart 
of  La  Grange  sat  humihty,  justice,  and  philan- 


i 


148  ^  MEMOIE   OF 

thropic  love.  In  fact,  La  Grange  was  full  of 
the  loftiest  virtue  and  genius,  while  La  Place 
had  the  latter,  merely.  Such  were  two  men 
whose  works  Dr.  Bowditch  read  with  the  great- 
est pleasure.  But  he  often  spoke  with  great 
feeling  of  the  noble  traits  in  the  character  of  La 
Grange.  The  features  and  form  of  the  head  of 
Dr.  Bowditch  resembled  those  of  the  French 
astronomer ;  and  I  have  often  thought,  that,  as 
they  were  like  each  other  in  countenance,  so 
their  dispositions  and  fortunes  in  life  were  more 
nearly  similar  than  is  usual  in  this  world.  Both 
were  born  poor,  and  early  had  to  seek  subsist- 
ence for  themselves.  Each  devoted  himself 
early  to  the  science  of  mathematics  ;  and  both 
became  eminent  in  it.  Love  of  truth,  and  a 
longing  for  it,  every  where,  were  strong  traits  in 
both  ;  order  and  regularity  of  life,  and  simpli- 
city of  food  and  regimen,  belonged  to  them 
equally.  Above  all,  a  sincere  reverence  for 
goodness,  for  true  modesty  and  delicate  refine- 
ment, and  a  deep  respect  for  the  female  sex, 
were  strikingly  manifest  in  both.  They  were 
n:ioderate  in  their  desires.  They  had  the  high- 
est good  of  humanity  at  heart.  Both  sought 
for  quiet  and  retirement  from  the  turmoil  of  life, 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCH.  149 

in  their  "  peaceful  mathematics."  As  the  lives 
of  both  were  beautiful,  so  was  the  serenity  of 
their  death  scenes.  I  shall  terminate  this  short 
story  of  La  Grange,  by  a  few  details  of  his 
death.  He  was  attacked  near  the  end  of  March 
1813  by  a  severe  fever,  and  the  symptoms  soon 
became  alarmins;.  He  saw  the  dano-er  he  was 
in,  but  preserved  still  his  serenity  of  soul.  ^^  I 
am  studying,"  says  he,  '^  what  is  passing  within 
me,  as  if  I  were  now  engaged  in  some  great  and 
rare  experiment."  On  the  eighth  of  April,  his 
friends,  Messrs.  Lacepede,  Monge,  and  Chap- 
tal,  visited  him,  and,  in  a  long  conversation 
which  he  entered  into  with  them,  he  showed 
that  his  memory  was  still  unclouded,  and  his  in- 
tellect as  bright  as  ever.  He  spoke  to  them  of 
his  actual  condition,  of  his  labors,  of  his  suc- 
cess, of  the  tenor  of  his  life ;  and  expressed  no 
regret  at  dying,  except  at  the  idea  of  being  sepa- 
rated from  his  wife,  whose  kind  attentions  had 
been  unremittingly  bestowed  upon  him.  He 
soon  sunk,  and  died.  Three  days  afterwards, 
his  body  was  deposited  in  the  Pantheon,  as  it  is 
called,  the  great  burial  place  for  the  renowned 
men  of  France  ;  and  La  Place,  and  his  friend 
Lacepede,  delivered  their  tributes  of  praise  and 


150  MEMOIR    OF 

admiration  over  his  grave.  So  peaceful  and 
calm  was  the  death  of  him  whose  life  1  have 
been  trying  to  place  before  you. 

Dr.  Bowditch's  health  had  been  generally 
good,  though  he  never  was  robust.  In  1808, 
he  was  dangerously  ill,  with  a  cough,  and,  by 
the  advice  of  a  physician,  he  took  a  journey. 
He  first  w^ent  towards  Pawtucket  and  Provi- 
dence ;  thence,  w^esterly,  through  Hartford  and 
New  Haven,  as  far  as  Albany,  and  back  again, 
across  the  interior  of  IMassachusetts,  as  far  as 
the  fertile  valley  of  the  Connecticut  river. 
Thence,  passing  upwards,  he  crossed  on  the 
southern  borders  of  Vermont  and  New  Hamp- 
shire, to  Newbury  port,  and  back  to  Salem. 
This  journey  quite  restored  him,  and  he  never 
afterwards  suffered  much  from  cough  ;  and  very 
generally  enjoyed  good  health,  until  his  last  ill- 
ness. He  sometimes  continued,  howev^er,  for  a 
long  while,  without  any  complaint  of  suffering ; 
for  he  was  unwilling  to  trouble  his  friends  with 
any  detail  of  his  illness. 

In  1834,  his  wife  died.  His  heart  was  borne 
down  by  the  loss.  She  had  been  to  him  always  a 
loving  and  a  tender  companion  ;  faithful  and  true, 
even  to  the  minutest  points.     She  had  watched 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCH.  151 

all  his  labors.  She  had  urged  him  onward  in 
the  pursuit  of  science,  by  telling  him  that  she 
would  find  the  means  of  meeting  any  expense, 
by  her  own  economy,  in  her  care  of  the  family. 
She  had  watched  the  progress  of  his  greatest 
work  which,  with  his  dying  hands,  he  afterwards 
dedicated  to  her  memory.  She  had  listened 
with  delight  to  all  the  praises  that  had  come  to 
him,  from  his  own  countrymen  and  foreign  lands  ; 
and  now,  when  he  was  full  of  honor  and  yet 
activ^e  in  business,  she  was  called  to  leave  him. 
With  her,  the  real  charm  of  life  departed,  and 
many  sad  hours  would  have  been  the  conse- 
quence, if  his  sense  of  duty,  and  devotion  to 
study,  had  not  prevented  them.  He  devoted 
himself  now  more  closely  to  active  engagements. 
He  always  spoke  of  his  wife  with  extreme  fond- 
ness, and  sometimes  his  tears  flowed  afresh. 
There  was  a  degree  of  sadness,  which  was  per- 
ceptible only  to  his  family,  however,  that  settled 
upon  Dr.  Bowditch  during  the  last  four  years  of 
life,  in  consequence  of  this  deprivation. 

In  the  latter  part  ofthe  summer  and  early  days 
of  autumn  of  1837,  he  began  to  feel  that  he  was 
losing  strength,  and  had  occasionally  pains  of 
great  severity.     He  continued  his  employments, 


152  MEMOIR    OF 

however,  without  yieldmg  to  suffering.  In  Jan- 
uary, 1838,  he  submitted  to  medical  advice  ;  but 
it  was  of  no  avail.  He  sunk  rapidly,  under  a 
severe  and  torturing  disease,  which,  for  the  last 
fortnight  of  life,  deprived  him  of  the  power  of 
eating,  or  even  of  drinking  any  thing,  except  a 
small  quantity  of  wine  and  water.  Until  the 
last  moment  of  his  life,  he  was  eno;ao;ed  in  at- 
tending  to  the  duties  of  the  Life  Office,  and  to 
the  publication  of  his  Commentary  on  the  ''  Me- 
canique  Celeste."  During  this  time,  after  he 
lost  the  power  of  visiting  State  Street,  he  used  to 
walk  into  his  library,  and  there  sit  down  among 
his  beloved  books,  and  pass  the  hours  in  gentle 
conversation  with  his  friends,  of  each  one  of 
whom  he  seemed  very  anxious  to  take  a  last 
farewell.  He  received  them  in  succession,  du- 
ring the  forenoon  ;  and  towards  those  whom  he 
loved  particularly,  he  showed  his  tenderness  by 
kissing  them  when  they  met  and  when  they 
parted.  His  conversation  with  them  was  of  the 
most  elevated  kind.  He  told  them  of  his  pros- 
pects of  death,  of  his  past  life,  and  of  his  perfect 
calmness,  and  reliance  on  God.  He  spoke  to 
them  of  his  love  of  moral  worth.  '^  Talents  with- 
out goodness  I  care  little  for/'  said  he  to  one  of 


NATHANIEL   BOWDITCH. 


153 


them.  With  his  children  he  was  always  inex- 
pressibly affectionate.  "  Come,  my  dears,"  said 
he,  '^  I  fear  you  will  think  me  very  foolish,  but 
1  cannot  help  telling  you  all  how  much  I  love 
you  ;  for  whenever  any  of  you  approach  me,  I 
feel  as  if  I  had  a  fountain  of  love  which  gushes 
out  upon  you."  He  spoke  to  them,  at  the  dead 
of  the  night,  when  he  awoke,  pleasant  as  a  little 
child,  yet  with  the  bright,  clear  mind  of  a  philoso- 
pher. He  told  them  of  his  life,  of  his  desire 
always  to  be  innocent,  to  be  active  in  every  duty, 
and  in  the  acquirement  of  knowledge  ;  and  then 
alluded  to  a  motto  that  he  had  impressed  upon 
his  mind  in  early  life,  that  a  good  man  must  have 
a  happy  death.  On  one  of  these  occasions  he 
said,  ''  I  feel  now  quiet  and  happy,  for  I  think 
my  life  has  been  somewhat  blameless." 

It  was  noon,  and  all  was  quiet  in  his  library. 
A  bright  ray  of  light  streamed  through  the  half 
closed  shutter  ;  he  was  calm  and  free  from  pain. 
One  of  his  children  bade  him  good-bye  for  a 
time.  Stretching  out  his  hand  and  pointing  to 
the  sunlight,  he  said,  ^^  Good-bye,  my  son,  the 
work  is  done  ;  and  if  I  knew  1  were  to  be  gone 
when  the  sun  sleeps  in  the  west,  I  would  say, 
'  thy  will,  oh  God,  be  done.'  "     Observing  some 


154  MEMOIR   OF 

around  him  weeping,  while  he  was  quiet,  he 
quoted  his  favorite  passage  from  Hafez,  one  of 
the  sweetest  of  the  poets  of  Persia : 

**  So  live  that,  sinking  in  thy  last  long  sleep, 
Calm  thou  may'st  smile  while  all  around  thee  weep." 

On  another  similar  occasion,  when  one  who 
was  near  him  had  a  sad  countenance,  he  told  her 
to  be  cheerful,  and  then  taking  Bryant's  Poems 
he  read  the  four  last  verses  of  that  exquisite 
little  poem  called  the  "  Old  Man's  Funeral." 
It  is  so  beautiful  in  itself,  that  I  want  you  to 
read  it,  and  perhaps  you  may  like  to  see  how  he 
thought  it  applied  to  his  own  condition.  I  have 
placed  in  parentheses  his  remarks. 

THE     OLD     man's     FUNERAL* 

I  saw  an  aged  man  upon  his  bier, 
His  hair  was  thin  and  white,  and  on  his  brow 

A  record  of  the  cares  of  many  a  year  ; 
Cares  that  were  ended  and  forgotten  now. 

And  there  was  sadness  round,  and  faces  bowed. 

And  women's  tears  fell  fast,  and  children  wailed  aloud. 

Then  rose  another  hoary  man  and  said, 
In  faltering  accents  to  that  weeping  train, 

Why  mourn  ye  that  our  aged  friend  is  dead  ? 
Ye  are  not  sad  to  see  the  gathered  grain. 

Nor  when  their  mellow  fruit  the  orchards  cast, 

Nor  when  the  yellow  woods  shake  down  the  ripened  mast 


NATHANIEL   BOWDITCH.  15S 

Ye  sigh  not  when  the  sun,  his  course  fulfilled. 
His  glorious  course,  rejoicing  earth  and  sky, 

In  the  soft  evening,  when  the  winds  are  stilled, 
Sinks  where  his  islands  of  refreshment  lie, 

And  leaves  the  smile  of  his  departure  spread 

O'er  the  warm-colored  heaven,  and  ruddy  mountain  head. 

Why  weep  ye  then  for  him,  who,  having  won 
The  bound  of  man's  appointed  years,  at  last. 

Life's  blessings  all  enjoyed,  hfe's  labors  done. 
Serenely  to  his  final  rest  has  past ; 

[I  cannot  agree  to  the  next  two  lines.] 

While  the  soft  memory  of  his  virtues,  yet 

Lingers  like  twilight  hues,  when  the  bright  sun  is  set." 

His  youth  was  innocent ;  [yes,  I  believe  mine  was  inno- 
cent ;  not  guilty,  certainly.]  his  riper  age. 
Marked  with  some  act  of  goodness  every  day,  [no,  not 
every  day —  sometimes.] 

And  watched  by  eyes  that  loved  him,  calm  and  sage,  [oh, 
yes,  watched  by  eyes  that  loved  him,  and  oh !  how 
calm,  but  I  cannot  add,  sage.] 
Faded  his  late  declining  years  away. 

Cheerful  he  gave  his  being  up,  and  went 

To  share  [he  hopes]  the  holy  rest  that  waits  a  life  [he  hopes] 
well  spent. 

That  hfe  was  happy ;  every  day  he  gave 

Thanks  for  the  fair  existence  that  was  his  ;  [yes,  every 
morning  when  I  awoke,  and  saw  the  beaufiful  sun 
rise,  I  thanked  God  that  he  had  placed  me  in  this 
beautiful  world] 
For  a  sick  fancy  made  him  not  her  slave, 
To  mock  him  with  her  phantom  miseries. 


156  MEMOIR  OF 

No  chronic  tortures  racked  his  aged  limb, 
For  luxury  and  sloth  had  nourished  none  for  him.  [yes, 
that  is  all  true.] 

And  I  am  glad  that  he  has  Hved  thus  long, 
And  glad  that  he  has  gone  to  his  reward ; 
Nor  deem  that  kindly  nature  did  him  wrong, 

Softly  to  disengage  the  vital  cord.     [Oh,  how  softly,  how 
sweetly  is  the  cord  disengaging  !] 
When  his  weak  hand  grew  palsied,  and  his  eye 
Dark  with  the  mists  of  age,  it  was  his  time  to  die.     [Yes, 
it  was  his  time  to  die  ;  remember  this ;   do  not 
look  sad  or  mournful,  it  is  his  time  to  die.] 

One  of  the  curious  effects  of  his  illness  was  his 
new  love  for  flowers.  He  had  never  shown  any 
great  pleasure  in  them  during  life,  although  the 
rose,  or  lilly  of  the  valley  were  frequently  in  his 
vest  during  the  summer.      One   day  during  his 

illness,  Miss sent  him   a  nosegay,  in  the 

centre  of  which  was  a  white  camelia  japonica. 
^'  Ah  !  how  beautiful !"  he  exclaimed,  ''  tell  her 
how  much  I  am  pleased  ;  place  them  where  I 
can  see  them.  Tell  her  that  the  japonica  is  to 
me  the  emblem  of  her  spotless  heart."  Music 
too,  as  it  had  been  his  delight  in  eariy  life,  now 
served  to  soothe  his  last  hours.  One  evening, 
when  surrounded  by  his  family,  and  he  was  free 
from  all  pain,  the  door  of  the  library  was  suddenly 
opened,  and  his  favorite  tune  of  Robin  Adair  was 


NATHANIEL    BOWDITCH.  157 

heard  richly  swelhng  from  some  musical  glasses 
in  the  entry.  Its  plaintiveness  was  always 
delio-htful  to  him  ;  and  after  listenino;  to  it  till 
it  died  away,  he  exclaimed,  '•  O,  how  beautiful ! 
I  feel  as  if  I  should  like  to  have  the  tune  that 
1  have  loved  in  life  prove  my  funeral  dirge." 

It  was  on  the  fifteenth  of  March,  183S,  that 
being  too  feeble  to  walk,  he  was  drawn  for  the 
last  time  into  the  library.  On  the  next  day  he 
was  confined  to  the  bed.  On  that  day  a  beau- 
tiful incident  took  place,  which  1  cannot  forbear 
to  mention.  He  had  called  his  daughter  his  Jes- 
samine, and  about  twenty-four  hours  before  his 
death,  she  obtained  for  him  that  delicate  white 
flower.  He  took  it,  and  kissed  it  many  times. 
He  then  returned  it  with  these  w^ords  :  ''  Take 
it,  my  love  ;  it  is  beautiful ;  it  is  the  queen  of 
flowers.  Let  it  be  for  you,  forever,  the  emblem 
of  truth  and  of  purity.  Let  it  be  the  Bowditch 
arms.  Place  it  in  your  mother's  Bible,  and  by 
the  side  of  La  Place's  bust ;  and  to-morrow,  if 
I  am  alive,  I  will  see  it." 

In  the  evening  he  drew  a  little  water  into  his 
parched  mouth.  '^  How  delicious,"  he  mur- 
mured.    '^  I  have  swallowed  a  drop  from 

«  Siloa's  brook  that  tiow'd 
Fast  by  the  oracle  of  God.' " 


158 


MEMOIR   OF    NATHANIEL   BOWDITCH. 


On  the  morrow  he  died.  Had  he  lived  nine 
days  more,  he  would  hg.ve  exactly  completed 
his  sixty-fifth  year.  On  the  next  Sabbath  he 
was  laid  quietly  by  the  side  of  his  wife,  Mary. 
As  his  body  was  carried  towards  the  spot,  gen- 
tle snow-flakes  fell  upon  it,  fit  emblems,  they 
seemed  to  be,  of  his  purity. 


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